What it is
Cline is an open-source AI coding agent, best known as an extension for VS Code. Cline Desktop is the same agent as a standalone app: you open a project folder, talk to the agent in a chat window, and it reads, edits and runs your code while showing the project and Git branch it’s working on.
You bring your own API key for any provider, such as Anthropic, OpenAI, Gemini or a local model, or sign in with a Cline account. Sessions are kept in a sidebar, and you can edit an earlier message to rewind the project and try again from there.
Why it’s here
- No editor required. A coding agent in its own window, for when you don’t want a full IDE open.
- Any provider. Use the models you already pay for, and switch mid-project.
- Open source. The same open Cline agent as the editor extension and command line.
On CoreDesktop
Cline Desktop comes from the AUR as an unofficial Linux build, compiled from Cline’s source. Opened from the app menu, it runs in CoreDesktop’s AI sandbox and starts in ~/Projects: it can change files there, open projects elsewhere only to read them, and reach Cline’s own servers (cline.bot) along with AI providers and common developer sites. It can’t read your SSH keys, passwords, browser data or the other agents’ logins.
It draws through your Wayland session but can’t reach the session’s other sockets, so it runs without D-Bus, the keyring or the GPU. To run it without the sandbox, type unsandboxed cline-desktop. update keeps it current with the rest of the AUR packages.