wehub-resource-sync
4.4 KiB
Cline Spec (Skills and CLI Plugins)
Last verified: 2026-06-30
Primary sources
https://docs.cline.bot/customization/skills
https://docs.cline.bot/customization/plugins
https://docs.cline.bot/sdk/plugin-install
Skills (primary CE install surface)
Cline skills follow the open Agent Skills standard. Each skill is a directory containing SKILL.md with YAML frontmatter (name, description). Cline activates skills on demand via its use_skill tool when a request matches the skill description.
Skills is an experimental feature in the VS Code, Cursor, and JetBrains extensions. Enable it in Settings -> Features -> Enable Skills before CE skills appear.
Discovery paths
| Scope | Path |
|---|---|
| Project (recommended) | .cline/skills/<name>/ |
| Project (alternate) | .clinerules/skills/<name>/ |
| Global (macOS/Linux) | ~/.cline/skills/<name>/ |
| Global (Windows) | C:\Users\USERNAME\.cline\skills\<name>\ |
When a global skill and project skill share the same name, the global skill takes precedence.
CE ships skills at ./skills/<name>/SKILL.md in this repository. Compound Engineering does not copy skills into a generated tree for Cline; users link the repository's invocable skill directories into one of the discovery paths above.
Manual-only skills
Some CE skills set disable-model-invocation: true in frontmatter so Claude and Codex do not auto-invoke them (for example lfg, ce-dogfood, ce-polish, ce-setup). Cline has no equivalent flag — it auto-activates skills when descriptions match — so .cline/scripts/install-skills.sh skips manual-only skills by default. Default reruns remove only stale symlinks whose target resolves under this checkout's skills/ directory. Re-run with --include-manual to link them for slash-command use; Cline may still auto-activate those skills when descriptions match.
CLI plugins (secondary, not required for CE)
Cline CLI and SDK support AgentPlugin entry points installed with cline plugin install from git, npm, or local paths. That surface is for custom tools, hooks, and lifecycle extensions — not for loading SKILL.md bundles.
CE workflows are skills-first. This repo does not ship a Cline CLI plugin entry point because CE's value is the skill orchestration layer, which the skills install path covers for both the extension and the CLI.
Instruction files
Cline reads project context from Cline rules and standard instruction files. This repository's canonical project instruction file is root AGENTS.md. CE skills reference "the project's active instructions and conventions already in your context" rather than hardcoding harness-specific filenames.
Do not add a root CLINE.md compatibility shim unless Cline documents support for that filename.
Install commands
Global skills from a checkout:
/path/to/compound-engineering-plugin/.cline/scripts/install-skills.sh --global
Project-scoped skills from a checkout:
/path/to/compound-engineering-plugin/.cline/scripts/install-skills.sh --project
Manual-only skills (for example lfg, ce-polish) require the opt-in flag:
/path/to/compound-engineering-plugin/.cline/scripts/install-skills.sh --global --include-manual
After installing or updating skills, start a new Cline task so the skill list refreshes.
Update and removal
Re-run the install script after pulling a newer CE release. It creates or replaces only CE-owned symlinks (those resolving under this checkout's skills/ tree) and leaves an existing <name> symlink pointing at a user skill, fork, or other checkout untouched, mirroring the user-managed-symlink preservation the OpenCode/Codex/Pi writers apply.
To remove CE skills, delete the symlinks (or directories) named after CE skill ids (ce-brainstorm, ce-plan, etc.) from ~/.cline/skills/ or .cline/skills/.
Subagent and tool notes
CE skills dispatch generic subagents with skill-local prompt assets under references/agents/ and references/personas/. Cline's subagent and MCP capabilities vary by host (extension vs CLI). Skills degrade gracefully when a primitive is unavailable — the same cross-harness posture used for OpenCode and Pi.
Bundled shell scripts in skills use the model-filled SKILL_DIR anchor documented in the repository's contributor instructions so paths resolve when the agent's working directory is the user's project, not the skill directory.