Cline

Cline is an AI coding extension for VS Code with native support for a custom API provider.

Install#

VS Code → Extensions → search "Cline" → Install
(Marketplace ID: saoudrizwan.claude-dev)

Or visit marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=saoudrizwan.claude-dev.

Setup#

1. Open Cline's settings (extension icon → ⚙️)
2. Set API Provider to OpenAI Compatible
3. Fill in:
   • Base URL: https://dianqi.zsopc.com/v1
   • API Key: sk-gpushare-<64 hex characters> (create one at dianqi.zsopc.com/dashboard/keys; you can re-reveal it on its detail page any time)
   • Model ID: claude-sonnet-4-6, or whichever model you want
4. Save and start using it

Which model to pick#

Cline runs multi-file edits and agentic loops, which demand strong reasoning:

Small-context models (the 32K-window tier) are a poor fit for Cline: the system prompt plus multi-file context easily runs to tens of thousands of tokens and overflows the window.

Full list: Models.

What actually goes through the gateway#

Cline speaks the OpenAI Chat protocol plus function tools. All 70+ text models work; whether a given model supports function tools is shown by the supports_tools flag in the model list (almost all do). Image, video and embedding SKUs don't use the chat path and aren't applicable to Cline — see Image / video / music APIs.

Things to know#

Cline plus tool use across vendors#

Cline leans heavily on function tools, and the gateway's translation paths support that fully:

• With a Claude model → gateway T1 translation (OpenAI Chat → Anthropic Tool Use)
• With a Gemini model → gateway T2 translation (OpenAI Chat → Gemini Native)
• With GLM / Grok / DeepSeek / Kimi and other OpenAI-compatible upstreams → passed through natively, no translation

See Tool calling.

Watching the cost#

A single Cline task can make 10–50 model calls, so spend adds up faster than you'd expect. Billing uses one account balance (a USD wallet): every API key draws on it and no key has its own budget pool — any key can spend the balance down to zero, so creating a separate key does not cap your exposure. What we suggest:

1. Create a dedicated key for Cline — the value is usage isolation and observability (per-key billing on the usage page), plus an optional allowed_models allowlist
2. Manage keys at dianqi.zsopc.com/dashboard/keys and top up at dflop.top/dashboard/billing (Stripe, $1 minimum; sign-up includes $0.30 of trial credit)
3. Prefer cheaper models (gpt-5.4 over claude-opus)

Watch out for the 402 pre-check: before calling upstream the gateway estimates this request's worst-case cost and returns 402 immediately if it exceeds your balance. Output is estimated as follows: if the client passes max_tokens, that value is used in full; if it doesn't, the estimate is min(the model's default_max_tokens, 32768) — a model's real output ceiling can be far higher (128K for gpt-5.x and Claude Opus), and the estimate deliberately doesn't assume the ceiling so low-balance accounts aren't rejected for no reason. For example claude-opus-4-6 bills output at $75/1M, so without max_tokens the worst-case estimate is roughly $2.46 plus input (about $1.47 during the 40%-off promotion). Passing a large explicit max_tokens (say 64000) is estimated in full. When your balance is tight: lower Cline's max output tokens, or top up.

Troubleshooting#

Full error list: Error codes.

Other clients#

• Claude Code — AI coding on the command line
• Cursor — AI built into the IDE
• Continue.dev — VS Code / JetBrains
• Open WebUI — self-hosted ChatGPT UI
• FlopCode — this platform's official fork