Cline Cloud Agents Guide: Setup, Limits, Models and Desktop

Last updated: November 1, 2026

Cline Cloud Agents let you hand a coding task to Cline from a browser or phone. Each session runs in its own cloud sandbox on a GitHub repo you pick, commits to a cline/ branch, and returns a pull request. You can run 10 sessions at once, and free models are available.

Contents

What’s new in Cline in late October 2026
How Cline Cloud Agents work
How to start a Cline cloud agent
Models, pricing and limits
Cloud agents vs local Cline
Cline Desktop 0.0.49 features
Power-user workflows and limitations
Frequently asked questions

What’s new in Cline in late October 2026

Cline is an open-source, model-agnostic coding agent that runs in VS Code, JetBrains, a terminal CLI and a desktop app. In October 2026 it gained a hosted option. The Cline Cloud page now describes Cloud as available to every Cline user, and the editor and desktop apps picked up controls for it.

Release	Date	What changed
Cline for VS Code 4.1.25	October 16, 2026	Cline Cloud sessions, rolling out gradually: run a task in a hosted sandbox on a chosen GitHub repo and branch
Cline for VS Code 4.1.26	October 26, 2026	Local \| Cloud toggle for the cloud model, sandbox progress card, retries capped at 3
Cline Desktop 0.0.49	October 26, 2026	Changes pane, project files panel, terminal panel, Local Models page, keybindings
Cline Cloud Agents in the browser	Live now	Start tasks at app.cline.bot with no install, including on mobile

How Cline Cloud Agents work

According to the Cline Cloud Agents documentation, each session gets its own isolated sandbox with its own copy of your repository. Cline writes code and runs commands there until the job is done. The agent keeps working after you close the tab.

Branches, not your default branch. Every task works on its own cline/ branch and never commits directly to your default branch. It commits and pushes as it goes.

Pause and resume. When a session sits idle for 15 minutes, its sandbox pauses. Reopening the session picks up where it left off with the workspace intact.

Scoped access. The GitHub access Cline gets in a session is limited to the single repository you picked, not your whole account.

Same agent controls. Plan and Act modes, approvals, auto-approve, pasted screenshots and mid-task follow-up messages work as they do in local Cline.

How to start a Cline cloud agent

Go to app.cline.bot and sign in, or create a free Cline account.
Connect GitHub and choose which repositories Cline can work on. Personal repositories and repositories in your organizations are both supported.
Open the Agents tab, pick a repository and branch, and choose a model.
Describe the task. Start in Plan mode if you want to agree on an approach before any code is written, and paste screenshots or mockups if they help.
Watch progress in the sidebar, answer approvals, or send follow-ups, from a desktop or mobile browser.
When the task is done, ask Cline to open a pull request, then review and merge it on GitHub.

In VS Code, Cloud sessions arrived in Cline 4.1.25 and show in Recent and History with their status, notify you when they finish, and keep running after you close the editor. Cline 4.1.26 added a Local | Cloud toggle under Settings, API Configuration, which saves the cloud model separately from your local models. Starting or resuming a sandbox now shows a progress card for starting the sandbox, cloning the repository and starting the agent.

Models, pricing and limits

You pick a model when you start a task and can switch mid-session. Cloud Agents support three providers:

Provider	How you pay	Notes
ClineFree	Free	Free models to try Cloud Agents; the list changes over time
ClinePass	Subscription	Open-weight models with 2-5x the usage compared with standard API rates
Cline (usage billing)	Pay as you go with Cline credits	Frontier and open models

The documentation sets two limits: up to 10 Cloud Agent sessions running at once and up to 50 new sessions per day. When the cloud is at capacity, you see a message asking you to try again shortly. Cline has not published a separate per-session sandbox fee in the pages cited here.

Model defaults also moved in 4.1.26. With no model chosen, the Cline provider uses Claude Sonnet 5.5 again, and ClinePass now defaults to Kimi K3.1 Pro and adds MiniMax M3.1 Flash and DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017. For background on those models, see our MiniMax M3.1 Flash guide.

Cloud agents vs local Cline

Feature	Cline Cloud Agents	Local Cline (IDE, CLI, Desktop)
Where code runs	Isolated cloud sandbox	Your machine or an SSH host
Install needed	None, works in a browser	Extension, CLI or app
Keeps running when laptop closes	Yes	No
Rules, skills, MCP, connectors	Not loaded yet	Supported
Where changes land	Pushed to a cline/ branch as it works	Your local working copy
Local models (Ollama, LM Studio)	No	Yes

Cline Desktop 0.0.49 features

The Cline Desktop 0.0.49 release notes list the biggest desktop update of the month:

Changes pane: a header button shows line counts and lists files changed in the last turn or the whole session, each with a diff.
Project files panel: a file tree with a read-only viewer, git status letters and a File/Diff toggle for files the agent edited, on local and SSH environments.
Terminal panel: toggle an integrated terminal with Ctrl+backtick.
Pull request button: PR title, merge status and checks, with failing checks listed first.
Local Models page: setup and storage management for Ollama and LM Studio, plus a chip showing loaded-model memory use.
Keybindings: configurable shortcuts, and Quit can require holding the shortcut, 1 second by default on macOS.

New Cloud chats in the desktop app start on your local Cline or ClinePass model. If Cloud does not offer that model, ClinePass subscribers get a ClinePass model and everyone else gets Claude Sonnet 5.5. Cline lists a /cloud command to hand a desktop conversation off to the cloud as coming soon.

Power-user workflows and limitations

Fan out small tasks: start a bug fix, a refactor and a test-coverage task as separate sessions, then review three pull requests.
Plan first on large changes: agree the plan in Plan mode, then switch to a stronger or cheaper model mid-session for the build.
Move repo conventions into the prompt: because rules and skills do not load in cloud sessions, paste key conventions into the task description.

For comparable hosted agents, see our guides to GitHub Copilot Automations, Devin Desktop 3.11 and the Cursor Agent SDK. For local model runners, read our Ollama October updates guide and LM Studio Bionic guide.

Frequently asked questions

What are Cline Cloud Agents?

Cline Cloud Agents run the open-source Cline coding agent in a hosted sandbox. You start a task from a browser on one of your GitHub repositories, and Cline works on its own cline/ branch, then opens a pull request when you ask.

Are Cline Cloud Agents free?

You can try them without paying. Cline offers a ClineFree provider with free models in the model picker. Paid options are the ClinePass subscription for open-weight models and pay-as-you-go Cline credits.

How many Cline cloud sessions can I run at once?

Cline’s documentation allows up to 10 Cloud Agent sessions running at once and up to 50 new sessions per day. If the cloud is at capacity, Cline asks you to try again shortly.

Do Cline rules, skills and MCP servers work in cloud sessions?

Not yet. Cline says rules, skills, MCP servers and connectors are not loaded in cloud sessions. Connectors in cloud sessions are listed as coming soon.

Can I start a Cline cloud task from VS Code?

Yes. Cline for VS Code 4.1.25 added Cloud sessions on October 16, 2026, rolling out gradually. Version 4.1.26 added a Local or Cloud toggle under Settings, API Configuration, to pick the cloud model.

What is new in Cline Desktop 0.0.49?

Cline Desktop 0.0.49, released October 26, 2026, adds a Changes pane with per-turn diffs, a project files panel, an integrated terminal, a Local Models page for Ollama and LM Studio, and configurable keybindings.

Sources

Image: Cline logo by Cline, Apache License 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Resized and placed on a matching background. FreeAnswers is not affiliated with Cline.

Cline Cloud Agents: Power-User Guide to Cloud Sessions, Limits and Cline Desktop 0.0.49