Cline CLI 2.0 introduces a ground-up rewrite of the terminal-based coding agent, delivering the same agentic workflows familiar from modern IDEs directly in the shell. The release pairs the new CLI with a limited-time free trial of the Kimi K2.5 model and aims to bring agentic orchestration, long-running sessions, and scriptability to the terminal ecosystem; details are available at the official announcement: Cline CLI 2.0.
Rebuilt for an agentic terminal workflow
The new CLI reimplements the core Cline agent loop with a terminal-first interaction model. The interface is designed as a text-based UI that mirrors common IDE patterns: planning tasks, watching agents reason and execute step-by-step, switching models, and iterating in real time. By aligning the TUI semantics with familiar editor workflows, the update reduces context switching between editor and shell while preserving developer expectations around visibility and control.
Parallel agents and session management
A notable change is explicit support for spinning up multiple agent instances in parallel. Each instance can run on a different task, branch, or idea, and the CLI is intended to work smoothly alongside terminal multiplexers such as tmux. This enables exploration of alternatives or long-lived background agents without breaking interactive focus.
Scriptability for CI/CD and automation
Cline CLI 2.0 supports fully non-interactive usage for automation. The CLI reads from stdin and writes to stdout, allowing composition with typical shell pipelines and other command-line tools. In the scripted mode (-y / -yolo) the interactive UI is skipped and the agent streams outputs directly to stdout, making it suitable for CI/CD and headless workflows. For example: git show | cline -y "summarize in only one line".
Editor integrations via ACP
The client -acp flag enables the CLI to act as an ACP (Agent Client Protocol) compliant agent. This standardization lets the CLI integrate with editors and IDEs even without a native extension, providing flexibility to pair the terminal agent with editors such as Zed and Neovim.
Open source and model choice
Cline CLI is part of the broader Cline open-source project, which the announcement says has been used by over 5 million developers. The CLI is built to accept a range of models so teams are not locked into a single provider. The announcement notes forthcoming benchmarking across different models and highlights the availability of a free trial for the Kimi K2.5 model.
Feedback and development discussion are routed through the project's public channels: the issue tracker on GitHub, Reddit, and Discord. Full documentation for the CLI is hosted in the Cline docs, and the release announcement links to these resources.
Original source: https://cline.bot/blog/announcing-cline-cli-2-0