How to set up the Cline coding agent in VS Code with Ozeki AI Gateway

This guide demonstrates how to configure Cline, an AI-powered coding assistant for Visual Studio Code, to work with Ozeki AI Gateway. You'll learn the complete installation process and configuration steps needed to integrate Cline with your Ozeki AI Gateway setup.

What is Cline?

Cline is an AI-powered coding assistant extension for Visual Studio Code that helps developers write code faster and more efficiently. It provides intelligent code completion, generation, and refactoring suggestions powered by large language models. When connected to Ozeki AI Gateway, you authenticate using API keys created in the gateway and access only the AI models that have been configured for your specific provider and routed to your user account.

Overview
Figure 1 -

How to set up Cline with Ozeki AI Gateway

We assume Ozeki AI Gateway is already installed on your system. You can install it on Linux or on Windows.

  1. Install Cline VS Code extension
  2. Configure Cline
  3. Test Cline

Create API key for Cline video

Before configuring Cline, you need to create an API key in Ozeki AI Gateway. This video demonstrates how to navigate to the Users section, create a new API key for Cline, and copy it for use in the configuration process. The API key serves as the authentication credential that allows Cline to communicate with your Ozeki AI Gateway.

Create API key for Cline
Figure 1 - Create API key for Cline in Ozeki AI Gateway

Create route for Cline video

After creating the API key, you must establish a route in Ozeki AI Gateway that connects your user account to an AI provider. This video shows how to create a route that links your Cline user to a provider like OpenRouter, enabling access to the AI models you've configured.

Create route for Cline
Figure 2 - Create route for Cline in Ozeki AI Gateway

How to set up Cline with Ozeki AI Gateway video

The following video shows how to set up Cline with Ozeki AI Gateway step-by-step. The video covers installing the extension, configuring the API connection, and testing the integration with a sample coding task.

Step 1 - Install Cline VS Code extension

Open Visual Studio Code and click on the Extensions icon in the left sidebar. In the search bar, type "Cline" to find the AI coding assistant extension (Figure 3).

Search Cline in extensions
Figure 3 - Search Cline in VS Code extensions

Locate the Cline extension in the search results and click the "Install" button. Visual Studio Code will download and install the extension. Wait for the installation to complete before proceeding (Figure 4).

Install Cline
Figure 4 - Install Cline extension

After installation, the Cline icon will appear in the VS Code sidebar. Click on the Cline icon to open the extension's interface. This will display the welcome screen where you can configure the AI provider connection (Figure 5).

Open Cline
Figure 5 - Open Cline interface

Step 2 - Configure Cline

On the Cline welcome screen, select "Bring my own API key" to configure a custom API endpoint. This option allows you to connect Cline to Ozeki AI Gateway (Figure 6).

Choose Bring my own API key
Figure 6 - Choose "Bring my own API key" option

From the provider list, select "OpenAI Compatible" as your API provider type. This option works with any API that follows the OpenAI API format, including Ozeki AI Gateway (Figure 7).

Select OpenAI Compatible provider
Figure 7 - Select OpenAI Compatible provider

Enter your Ozeki AI Gateway base URL in the API endpoint field. Then, enter your Ozeki AI Gateway API key in the API key field. Cline authenticates to the gateway using this key (Figure 8).

You need a working installation of Ozeki AI Gateway with at least one configured AI provider, one user with an API key, and at least one route that connects the user to a provider. If you haven't set this up yet, please check out the Ozeki AI Gateway Quick Start Guide.

Enter base URL and API key
Figure 8 - Enter Ozeki AI Gateway base URL and API key

If you don't know the exact model ID to use, you can check it in Ozeki AI Gateway. Navigate to the Providers section in your Ozeki AI Gateway interface and locate the provider you configured (Figure 9).

Check model ID in Ozeki AI Gateway
Figure 9 - Check model ID in Ozeki AI Gateway Providers section

Enter the model ID you want to use with Cline. This should match one of the models that have been enabled in your provider configuration (Figure 10).

Enter model ID
Figure 10 - Enter model ID

After entering all the configuration details, click the "Continue" button to save your settings and complete the Cline configuration (Figure 11).

Click Continue
Figure 11 - Click Continue to save configuration

Step 3 - Test Cline

To verify that Cline is working properly with your Ozeki AI Gateway, test it with a simple coding task. The AI will generate code based on your request (Figure 12).

Test Cline
Figure 12 - Test Cline with a coding task

Cline will generate the requested code and display it in the interface. You can review the generated code, insert it into your project, or ask for modifications (Figure 13).

Task completed
Figure 13 - Task completed successfully

View Cline Transaction Log video

One of the key advantages of using Ozeki AI Gateway is the ability to monitor usage. This video demonstrates how to access the transaction log in Ozeki AI Gateway to view information about Cline requests, including which developer made requests, which models were used, token consumption, and associated costs.

View Cline transaction log
Figure 14 - View Cline transaction log in Ozeki AI Gateway

Conclusion

You have successfully configured Cline to work with Ozeki AI Gateway, giving you an AI-powered coding assistant that routes through your own on-premises infrastructure. Use it to accelerate your development workflow with code generation, debugging assistance, and documentation creation. All interactions are authenticated through your gateway API key and limited to the providers and models configured for your account.

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