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Tier A A8 Cross-runtime harness

Cline ACP

cline-acp · Tonksthebear/cline-acp · ★ 9 · last commit 2026-02-10

ACP protocol adapter that exposes Cline's coding capabilities to non-VS-Code editors like Zed.

Best whenAI coding agents should be accessible from any editor via standardized protocols, not locked to VS Code.
vs seeds
Does not fit any seed archetype — this is infrastructure middleware (ACP↔gRPC protocol adapter), not an agent behavior or specific…
Primitive shape
No installable primitives
00

Summary

Cline ACP — Summary

Cline ACP is an adapter library that exposes the Cline VS Code extension as an ACP (Agent Client Protocol) server, making Cline accessible from any ACP-compatible client such as the Zed editor. The protocol bridge translates between ACP's stdio-based ndjson stream format and Cline's internal gRPC interface, enabling features like context @-mentions, images, tool calls with permission requests, Plan/Act mode switching, and multi-model support — all from non-VS-Code editors. The repository is now archived because Cline directly supports ACP natively, making this adapter obsolete. This is a protocol bridge, not a prompting or specification framework — it has no rule files, no prompts, no workflows, and no spec primitives.

differs_from_seeds: Does not match any seed framework archetype. This is infrastructure middleware, not a development methodology or agent behavior framework. It is closest in spirit to claude-conductor (Archetype 4 — minimal, composition-focused), but even that is a stretch — claude-conductor ships template markdown, whereas cline-acp ships only protocol translation code. The only relevant comparison is that it extends Cline's reach beyond VS Code to ACP-compatible clients, which is an IDE-portability concern rather than an agent behavior concern.

01

Overview

Cline ACP — Overview

Origin

Created by Tonksthebear (GitHub) as an adapter to expose Cline's capabilities via the Agent Client Protocol (ACP). ACP is an open protocol (agentclientprotocol.com) that allows editors to communicate with AI agents over a standardized stdio/ndjson interface. Archived February 2026 when Cline added native ACP support.

Purpose

"An ACP-compatible coding agent powered by Cline. Use Cline from ACP clients such as Zed!"

Archived / Redundant: Cline now directly supports ACP, so this repository is no longer needed. See: https://docs.cline.bot/cline-cli/acp-editor-integrations

Architecture Insight

┌─────────────┐     ACP      ┌─────────────────┐    gRPC     ┌─────────────┐
│ ACP Client  │◄────────────►│    cline-acp    │◄───────────►│ cline-core  │
│   (Zed)     │   (stdio)    │                 │             │             │
└─────────────┘              └─────────────────┘             └─────────────┘

The adapter sits between any ACP-compatible editor (Zed, or any future ACP client) and the Cline CLI instance, translating protocol formats.

Agent Client Protocol (ACP)

ACP is a standardized protocol for editor-to-agent communication:

  • Transport: stdio (ndjson streaming)
  • Features: context @-mentions, images, tool calls with permission requests, streaming responses
  • Developed by the ACP consortium (agentclientprotocol.com)

Historical Significance

This repo represents an early attempt to make AI coding agents portable across editors via standardized protocols, predating the mainstream adoption of MCP and ACP. The fact that it is now archived because Cline adopted ACP natively demonstrates the protocol's adoption trajectory.

02

Architecture

Cline ACP — Architecture

Distribution

npm package (cline-acp) with a dedicated CLI binary.

Install

npm install -g cline-acp
# Prerequisites: npm install -g cline && cline auth

Directory Tree

cline-acp/
├── src/
│   ├── cline-acp.ts        # ACP server runner (AgentSideConnection)
│   ├── cline-index.ts      # CLI entry point
│   ├── utils.ts            # Stream adapters (node↔web readable/writable)
│   ├── cline/
│   │   └── cline-acp-agent.ts  # Core agent bridging ACP↔gRPC
│   └── tests/
├── proto/                  # gRPC protobuf definitions
├── package.json
├── tsconfig.json
└── README.md

Protocol Architecture

ACP Client (Zed, etc.)
    ↕ ACP/ndjson via stdio
cline-acp (this package)
    ↕ gRPC
cline-core (the Cline CLI)

ACP Layer: @agentclientprotocol/sdk handles the ACP side — stdio ndjson streaming, session management, tool call permission flows.

gRPC Layer: @grpc/grpc-js + @grpc/proto-loader handle communication with Cline's internal gRPC server.

Rule File Format

None. No .cursorrules, .clinerules, or .windsurfrules files. This is pure infrastructure code.

Target AI Tools / IDEs

  • Zed (explicitly documented)
  • Any ACP-compatible client
  • Requires Cline CLI as the backing agent

Required Runtime

"dependencies": {
  "@agentclientprotocol/sdk": "0.5.1",
  "@grpc/grpc-js": "^1.14.1",
  "@grpc/proto-loader": "^0.8.0",
  "uuid": "13.0.0"
}

Node.js runtime required.

03

Components

Cline ACP — Components

CLI Binary

Name Purpose
cline-acp Start the ACP agent server — connects to existing Cline instance or starts a new one

Core Classes

Name File Purpose
ClineAcpAgent src/cline/cline-acp-agent.ts Core adapter bridging ACP protocol to Cline gRPC
runClineAcp() src/cline-acp.ts Entry point function — sets up ACP server connection

Protocol Components

Component Purpose
AgentSideConnection ACP SDK class — manages agent side of ACP connection
ndJsonStream ACP SDK utility — ndjson streaming over stdio
gRPC client Communicates with Cline CLI's internal gRPC server

Features Bridged (ACP → Cline)

  • Context @-mentions
  • Image attachments (vision-capable models)
  • Tool calls with permission requests
  • Plan/Act mode switching
  • Multi-model support (via Cline's provider configuration)
  • Streaming responses

No Prompt/Skill/Workflow Components

This package ships zero prompt files, skill files, workflow definitions, or behavioral rules. It is purely protocol translation infrastructure.

05

Prompts

Cline ACP — Prompts

No Prompt Files

Cline ACP ships no prompt files, instruction templates, or behavioral rules. It is a protocol adapter library only.

The only "prompt" content is the README documentation for configuring the adapter, shown below for completeness.

README Verbatim: Configuration Pattern

{
  "agent_servers": {
    "Cline": {
      "type": "custom",
      "command": "cline-acp"
    }
  }
}

This is Zed's settings.json configuration, not a prompt. It instructs Zed to start the cline-acp binary as an ACP server.

Prompting Technique: (none)

No prompting techniques are used or defined in this framework. The framework's behavior is entirely determined by:

  1. Cline's system prompt (inherited from the Cline CLI)
  2. The ACP client's interaction patterns
  3. The model configuration in Cline's settings

Any prompt engineering for this setup would be done in Cline's configuration, not in this adapter.

09

Uniqueness

Cline ACP — Uniqueness

differs_from_seeds

Cline ACP does not fit any of the 11 seed framework archetypes. It is infrastructure middleware (protocol adapter), not an agent behavior framework, specification system, or prompt engineering tool. The closest seed is claude-conductor (Archetype 4 — minimal, composition-focused), but even that comparison is loose — claude-conductor ships markdown templates, cline-acp ships only protocol translation code. This framework is best understood as an enabler for other frameworks: it makes Cline's capabilities available in non-VS-Code editors, allowing users of those editors to use whatever prompting/spec workflow they prefer.

Positioning

  • Category: Protocol adapter / infrastructure middleware
  • Not a framework: Ships no prompts, no rules, no workflows, no behavioral guidance
  • Historical role: Early demonstration of ACP protocol value before Cline adopted it natively
  • Archived status: Self-obsoleted when Cline adopted ACP natively

Observable Failure Modes

  1. Archived and obsolete: The repository is archived. Direct use is not recommended.
  2. No independent value: All value comes from Cline CLI — if Cline has a bug or limitation, this adapter inherits it.
  3. gRPC coupling: The adapter depends on Cline's internal gRPC interface, which is not a public API and could change without notice.
04

Workflow

Cline ACP — Workflow

No Development Workflow

Cline ACP does not define a development workflow. It is an infrastructure adapter that proxies Cline's capabilities to ACP clients. The workflow used is entirely determined by:

  1. The ACP client (e.g., Zed's agent interface)
  2. Cline's own behavior (Plan/Act mode, tool use)

Setup Workflow

  1. Install prerequisites: npm install -g cline && cline auth
  2. Install adapter: npm install -g cline-acp
  3. Configure ACP client (e.g., add to Zed's settings.json):
    {
  "agent_servers": {
    "Cline": {
      "type": "custom",
      "command": "cline-acp"
    }
  }
}
  4. Start using Cline from the ACP client

Phases

None defined by this framework. The adapter is transparent to the development workflow.

Approval Gates

None defined. Approval gates are determined by Cline's behavior (tool use approvals are surfaced to the ACP client by the adapter).

06

Memory Context

Cline ACP — Memory & Context

Memory

None defined by this adapter. Memory management is entirely delegated to:

  1. Cline CLI's own context management
  2. The ACP client's session management

Context Passing

The adapter translates ACP context @-mentions (user-provided file references, URL references) from the ACP client's format into Cline's internal format and passes them through the gRPC interface.

Session State

ACP sessions are managed by the AgentSideConnection class from the ACP SDK. Session state is not persisted by this adapter — each ACP connection is independent.

No Persistent Memory

This is a stateless protocol bridge. No files are written to disk by the adapter itself.

07

Orchestration

Cline ACP — Orchestration

This framework defines no orchestration. It is a protocol adapter.

All orchestration behavior is inherited from Cline CLI.

Dimension Value
Multi-agent no
Orchestration pattern none
Max concurrent agents 1 (proxied Cline instance)
Isolation none
Consensus none
Prompt chaining no
Multi-model yes (via Cline's model selector)
Execution mode event-driven (responds to ACP client messages)
Crash recovery no
08

Ui Cli Surface

Cline ACP — UI / CLI Surface

Dedicated CLI Binary

Yes.

Binary Package Purpose
cline-acp cline-acp npm package Start ACP agent server (proxies Cline)

The binary starts an ACP server listening on stdio for ndjson messages.

Local UI / Dashboard

None. The adapter has no UI of its own — the UI is provided by the ACP client (e.g., Zed's agent panel).

IDE Integration

Primary: Zed editor (documented explicitly) Secondary: Any ACP-compatible client

Zed configuration:

{
  "agent_servers": {
    "Cline": {
      "type": "custom",
      "command": "cline-acp"
    }
  }
}

Observability

Verbose logging via environment variables:

CLINE_ACP_VERBOSE=1 cline-acp
CLINE_ACP_DEBUG=1 cline-acp

No structured audit log.

Cross-Tool Portability

High. The entire purpose of this adapter is cross-IDE portability — any ACP-compatible client can use it.

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