Clive for VS Code

Clive is a Cline-based AI coding assistant for Visual Studio Code. It can inspect your workspace, create and edit files, run commands, use a browser, connect to MCP servers, and help verify changes—with human approval for actions that affect your workspace.

This fork puts Archivist front and center: a local-first context and project-memory layer designed to help Clive stay grounded in the current codebase without replacing VS Code, Cline, or their safety boundaries.

Current release: 0.4.1

Marketplace identity: silvercastledigital.archclive

VS Code requirement: 1.101.0 or newer

Why Clive is different

Archivist: local-first project context

Archivist maintains a bounded, read-only understanding of the active workspace:

• Indexes eligible source, configuration, documentation, and text files in the background.
• Excludes dependencies, build output, generated output, VCS data, virtual environments, vendor directories, and .cline data.
• Filters symbolic links, AppleDouble files, secret-named files, oversized files, secret-like values, and common instruction-injection phrases.
• Labels retrieved evidence with source paths, revisions/freshness, omissions, and authority boundaries.
• Invalidates stale context after relevant file changes instead of silently reusing it.
• Provides the read-only archivist_context capability for targeted local retrieval.

Archivist context is bounded evidence—not a replacement for Clive's native file, search, terminal, or browser tools.

Persistent project memory

Archivist can retain bounded project-local memories at:

<workspace>/.cline/archivist/archivist.sqlite

Memories can represent explicit user facts, corrections, host-observed facts, conventions, architecture decisions, verification rules, known pitfalls, and completed-task insights. Each memory carries provenance, scope, freshness, confidence, and status.

Current user instructions, current source files, host-observed results, native approvals, workspace trust, and safety policy always take precedence over historical memory. Model-suggested memories remain proposals rather than becoming active automatically.

Optional conversation context for cloud models

Conversation-context sharing is disabled by default and is separate from local interaction retention.

When explicitly enabled, Clive may add one transient <archivist_conversation_context> brief to a native model turn. The brief contains:

• A bounded summary of the current prompt's intent, requested operations, paths, and key terms.
• A sanitized copy of the current prompt.
• Up to three recent retained user/assistant excerpts from the active native session.

The packet is hard-bounded, redacts secret-like values and instruction-like text, marks historical excerpts as untrusted, and is not automatically converted into durable memory. It never overrides current instructions, source evidence, tool results, approvals, or policy.

Optional role-based planning and review

Archivist roles are advisory and bounded:

• Coordinator selects one host-advertised capability.
• Planner produces a concise plan without tools.
• Worker performs normal implementation through native Clive/Cline tools and approvals.
• Executor reviews plans or implementation outcomes and returns bounded approval or correction guidance without directly executing actions.

Native Clive remains the only component that can use workspace tools, request approval, mutate files, run commands, manage cancellation, or declare host-backed completion.

Quick start

Install from the Marketplace

1. Open Extensions in VS Code.
2. Search for Clive or open the Clive Marketplace listing.
3. Select Install.
4. Open Clive from the Activity Bar.

Install a VSIX manually

For a beta, private, or unlisted build:

1. Download the .vsix file.
2. In VS Code, open Extensions.
3. Select ⋯ → Install from VSIX....
4. Choose the downloaded file and reload VS Code.

Configure a provider

Open Clive → Settings and configure a provider and model. Supported options include Anthropic, OpenAI, OpenRouter, Google Gemini, AWS Bedrock, Azure, GCP Vertex, Cerebras, Groq, Ollama, LM Studio, and OpenAI-compatible endpoints.

API keys are stored in VS Code's secure credential storage. Do not paste credentials into prompts, source files, role descriptions, or Archivist memory entries.

Start a task

Describe the outcome you want, attach screenshots when useful, and let Clive inspect the workspace. Review and approve edits, terminal commands, browser actions, and other mutations as they appear.

Useful first prompts include:

Explain how this project is structured and identify the best place to add a health-check endpoint.

Fix the failing tests, make the smallest safe change, and run the relevant verification afterward.

Review the current implementation for security issues, but do not modify files until I approve a plan.

Configure Archivist

Open Settings → Archivist after installing Clive.

Recommended order:

1. Start with the default native Clive flow.
2. Enable persistent project memory only when local project history is useful.
3. Enable role-based planning/review only after selecting the desired role providers and models.
4. Enable Conversation context sharing only when you explicitly want sanitized prompt/recent-turn summaries sent to cloud models.

The two retention settings are independent:

You can retain local excerpts while keeping cloud conversation-context sharing disabled.

If role orchestration is enabled, configure Coordinator, Planner, Worker, and Executor providers/models in the Archivist settings section. Planner and Executor remain tool-free; Worker is the native implementation path.

Safety and privacy boundaries

• Archivist data is project-local by default.
• Source retrieval is read-only and bounded.
• Raw hidden reasoning, unrestricted transcripts, tool arguments, command output, credentials, and approval feedback are not retained as durable Archivist memory.
• Historical conversation excerpts are session-scoped when used for conversation context.
• Retrieved source, memory, role artifacts, and historical excerpts are explicitly non-authoritative.
• Native Clive/Cline approvals and workspace trust remain required for mutations.
• Clearing Archivist records does not delete native Clive task history, source files, Git state, or approvals.

Current source and host-observed evidence decide what is true now; Archivist helps preserve context about what happened before.

Inherited Cline capabilities

Clive retains the core Cline workflow and tool surface, including:

• Plan/Act task flow with interactive approval.
• File creation and editing with diff review.
• Terminal command execution and output monitoring.
• Browser automation for web debugging and visual checks.
• MCP servers and custom tools.
• URL, file, folder, and Problems-panel context attachments.
• Checkpoints for comparing and restoring workspace state.
• Multiple API providers and local-model endpoints.
• Token and usage-cost reporting.

For upstream Cline documentation, see the Cline documentation, Cline repository, and Cline getting-started guide.

Add context with mentions

• @url fetches a URL and converts it to Markdown.
• @problems adds current VS Code errors and warnings.
• @file adds a file's contents directly to the task.
• @folder adds files from a folder in one operation.

MCP and custom tools

Ask Clive to add a tool, or configure a community MCP server, for workflows such as retrieving Jira tickets, checking cloud infrastructure, querying incident systems, and interacting with APIs or databases.

Clive still asks for approval before actions that require it.

Checkpoints

Use checkpoints to compare current files with earlier task states or restore a previous workspace state. This makes it safer to explore alternate implementations and recover from an unwanted change.

Clive and Archivist

Clive adds an optional, local-first Archivist layer around the native Cline session. Archivist is advisory: native Cline remains the authority for tools, approvals, workspace trust, file changes, terminal commands, cancellation, and task completion. Archivist cannot authorize or perform an action by itself.

Bounded local project context

When a workspace is open, Archivist can build a small read-only source index in the background. Retrieval is bounded and workspace-contained:

• Common source, configuration, documentation, and text files are eligible.
• Dependencies, build output, generated output, VCS data, virtual environments, vendor directories, and .cline data are excluded.
• Symbolic links, AppleDouble files, secret-named files, oversized files, secret-like values, and common instruction-injection phrases are filtered.
• Retrieved context is labeled with source paths, freshness/revision information, omissions, and authority notes.
• Changed or deleted files invalidate stale context rather than silently reusing it.

The native model can use the read-only archivist_context capability when it needs relevant local evidence. This does not replace Cline's normal file and search tools.

Persistent project memory

Archivist can retain bounded project-local memories in:

<workspace>/.cline/archivist/archivist.sqlite

Memories may represent explicit user facts, corrections, host-observed facts, conventions, decisions, verification rules, known pitfalls, or completed-task insights. Records include provenance, scope, freshness, confidence, and status. Current user instructions, current source, and host-observed results always outrank historical memory.

Model-suggested memories remain proposed rather than becoming active automatically. Archivist memory is local to the project and does not grant access to another workspace.

Optional cloud conversation context

Conversation-context sharing is off by default and is separate from local interaction retention.

When explicitly enabled, Clive may add one small, transient <archivist_conversation_context> brief to a native model turn. It contains:

• A bounded summary of the current prompt's intent, requested operations, paths, and key terms.
• A sanitized copy of the current prompt.
• Up to three recent retained user/assistant excerpts from the active native session.

The brief is hard-bounded, redacts secret-like values and instruction-like text, labels historical excerpts as untrusted, and does not become durable memory merely because it was sent to a model. It never overrides current instructions, source evidence, native tool results, approvals, or policy.

Optional role-based planning and review

Archivist roles can be configured independently for Coordinator, Planner, Worker, and Executor connections. The intended division is:

• Coordinator: selects one host-advertised bounded capability.
• Planner: produces a concise advisory plan without tools.
• Worker: remains the normal implementation path and uses native Cline tools and approvals.
• Executor: reviews plans or implementation outcomes and provides bounded approval/correction guidance without directly executing actions.

Role output is advisory and bounded. It cannot bypass native Cline's approval, trust, mutation, cancellation, or completion rules.

Setup

1. Install Clive

Install the packaged .vsix from the VS Code Extensions view:

1. Open Extensions in VS Code.
2. Select ⋯ → Install from VSIX....
3. Choose the Clive .vsix file.
4. Reload VS Code when prompted.

Clive requires VS Code 1.101.0 or newer.

2. Configure a model provider

Open Clive from the Activity Bar, then choose Settings. Configure one supported provider and model, such as Anthropic, OpenAI, OpenRouter, Google Gemini, AWS Bedrock, an OpenAI-compatible endpoint, Ollama, or LM Studio.

API keys remain in the extension's secure credential storage. Do not paste credentials into prompts, source files, memory entries, or role descriptions.

3. Start with native Cline behavior

Create a task and allow Clive to inspect the workspace. Approve file edits, terminal commands, browser actions, and other mutations as they appear. This is the default operating mode and does not require Archivist conversation sharing.

4. Enable local Archivist features as needed

Open Settings → Archivist. Recommended order:

1. Leave interaction retention disabled unless you want bounded local excerpts retained.
2. Enable persistent project-memory behavior only if local project history is useful to you.
3. Enable role-based planning/review only after configuring the desired role providers and models.
4. Enable Conversation context sharing only if you explicitly want sanitized current-prompt and recent-turn summaries sent to cloud models.

Conversation-context sharing is independent of local retention:

You can keep local retention enabled while leaving cloud conversation-context sharing disabled.

5. Configure optional roles

If role orchestration is enabled, choose providers and models for the available roles in the Archivist settings section. Empty role overrides fall back to the current native connection. Planner and Executor connections are advisory and tool-free; the Worker/native connection is the path that performs approved workspace work.

For local advisory classification or role support, configure the recommended local model through the available Ollama/LM Studio settings. Local-model availability is optional; Clive continues to use the native provider configuration when a local model is not configured.

Privacy and safety boundaries

• Archivist data is project-local by default.
• Raw hidden reasoning, unrestricted transcripts, tool arguments, command output, credentials, and approval feedback are not retained as durable Archivist memory.
• Local source retrieval is read-only and bounded.
• Historical interaction excerpts are session-scoped when used for conversation context.
• Conversation-context sharing is opt-in and disabled by default.
• A retrieved document, memory, role artifact, or conversation excerpt is not an instruction source.
• Native Cline approvals and workspace trust remain required for mutations.
• Clearing Archivist records does not delete native Cline task history, source files, Git state, or approvals.

Current limitations

The current Clive release is suitable for feedback and evaluation, but several areas remain intentionally limited:

• Indexing resume state and file-event integration are still being expanded.
• Full pause/resume/refresh indexing controls are not currently exposed as a complete settings workflow.
• Host-side memory portability primitives exist, but the complete user-facing export/import workflow is still being refined.
• Provider-backed performance benchmarks are not published yet; results depend on the configured provider, model, workspace, and task.

Please report unexpected behavior with the workspace, provider/model, task shape, and whether Archivist settings were enabled. Avoid including API keys, private source text, or confidential task content in reports.

[!TIP] Follow this guide to open Cline on the right side of your editor. This lets you use Cline side-by-side with your file explorer, and see how he changes your workspace more clearly.

Use any API and Model

Cline supports API providers like OpenRouter, Anthropic, OpenAI, Google Gemini, AWS Bedrock, Azure, GCP Vertex, Cerebras and Groq. You can also configure any OpenAI compatible API, or use a local model through LM Studio/Ollama. If you're using OpenRouter, the extension fetches their latest model list, allowing you to use the newest models as soon as they're available.

The extension also keeps track of total tokens and API usage cost for the entire task loop and individual requests, keeping you informed of spend every step of the way.

Run Commands in Terminal

Cline can execute commands and receive their output to install packages, run build scripts, deploy applications, manage databases, and run tests, all while adapting to your dev environment & toolchain to get the job done right.

By default, commands run in a visible VS Code terminal, using the shell integration API introduced in VSCode v1.93 to stream output as commands run and let you watch or interact with them directly. You can switch to running commands in a background process instead (Settings → Terminal → Terminal Execution Mode).

Create and Edit Files

Cline can create and edit files directly in your editor, presenting you a diff view of the changes. You can edit or revert Cline's changes directly in the diff view editor, or provide feedback in chat until you're satisfied with the result. Cline also monitors linter/compiler errors (missing imports, syntax errors, etc.) so he can fix issues that come up along the way on his own.

All changes made by Cline are recorded in your file's Timeline, providing an easy way to track and revert modifications if needed.

Use the Browser

With Claude Sonnet's new Computer Use capability, Cline can launch a browser, click elements, type text, and scroll, capturing screenshots and console logs at each step. This allows for interactive debugging, end-to-end testing, and even general web use! This gives him autonomy to fixing visual bugs and runtime issues without you needing to handhold and copy-pasting error logs yourself.

Try asking Cline to "test the app", and watch as he runs a command like npm run dev, launches your locally running dev server in a browser, and performs a series of tests to confirm that everything works. See a demo here.

"add a tool that..."

Thanks to the Model Context Protocol, Cline can extend his capabilities through custom tools. While you can use community-made servers, Cline can instead create and install tools tailored to your specific workflow. Just ask Cline to "add a tool" and he will handle everything, from creating a new MCP server to installing it into the extension. These custom tools then become part of Cline's toolkit, ready to use in future tasks.

• "add a tool that fetches Jira tickets": Retrieve ticket ACs and put Cline to work
• "add a tool that manages AWS EC2s": Check server metrics and scale instances up or down
• "add a tool that pulls the latest PagerDuty incidents": Fetch details and ask Cline to fix bugs

Add Context

@url: Paste in a URL for the extension to fetch and convert to markdown, useful when you want to give Cline the latest docs

@problems: Add workspace errors and warnings ('Problems' panel) for Cline to fix

@file: Adds a file's contents so you don't have to waste API requests approving read file (+ type to search files)

@folder: Adds folder's files all at once to speed up your workflow even more

Checkpoints: Compare and Restore

As Cline works through a task, the extension takes a snapshot of your workspace at each step. You can use the 'Compare' button to see a diff between the snapshot and your current workspace, and the 'Restore' button to roll back to that point.

For example, when working with a local web server, you can use 'Restore Workspace Only' to quickly test different versions of your app, then use 'Restore Task and Workspace' when you find the version you want to continue building from. This lets you safely explore different approaches without losing progress.

Contributing

To contribute to the project, start with our Contributing Guide to learn the basics. You can also join our Discord to chat with other contributors in the #contributors channel. If you're looking for full-time work, check out our open positions on our careers page!

Enterprise

Get the same Cline experience with enterprise-grade controls: SSO (SAML/OIDC), global policies and configuration, observability with audit trails, private networking (VPC/private link), and self-hosted or on-prem deployments, and enterprise support. Learn more at our enterprise page or talk to us.

License

Apache 2.0 © 2026 Cline Bot Inc.