.clinerules

.clinerules is the rule-file convention used by the Cline open-source AI coding agent. Projects expose persistent guidance to Cline by placing a .clinerules/ directory at the repository root containing one or more Markdown or text files. Each file may declare optional YAML frontmatter to scope its instructions to glob patterns so the agent only loads context relevant to the active task. The format is interoperable with AGENTS.md, .cursorrules, and .windsurfrules conventions, providing a cross-tool standard for codifying coding conventions, architectural decisions, and behavioural constraints for AI coding agents.

.clinerules is profiled on the APIs.io network. Tagged areas include AI Agents, Cline, Coding Standards, Configuration, and Developer Workflow.

The .clinerules catalog on APIs.io includes 1 JSON-LD context and 1 Spectral governance ruleset.

.clinerules’ developer surface includes documentation and 13 more developer resources.

🌐 Visit website 📡 Source on GitHub

0 APIs

AI AgentsClineCoding StandardsConfigurationDeveloper WorkflowPrompt Engineering

Semantic Vocabularies 1

JSON-LD contexts and semantic vocabularies used across these APIs.

Clinerules Context

3 classes · 5 properties

JSON-LD

Spectral Rules 1

Spectral governance rulesets for linting and validating these APIs.

.clinerules API Rules

4 rules · 3 warnings 1 info

SPECTRAL

JSON Schema 1

Standalone JSON Schema definitions for this provider's data models.

Cline Rule File

2 properties

JSON SCHEMA

Security Posture 2

Authentication, domain security, vulnerability disclosure, and trust-center signals.

Clinerules Domain Security

TLSv1.3 · HSTS · DNSSEC · DMARC

SECURITY

Clinerules Vulnerability Disclosure

Bugcrowd · security.txt · contact published

SECURITY

Resources

Documentation 3

Reference material describing how the API behaves

ContributionGuide

ContributionGuide

Documentation

Documentation

JSONSchema

JSONSchema

Agent Surfaces 1

MCP servers, agent skills, and machine-readable catalogs

LlmsText

LlmsText

Design & Contract 1

Pagination, idempotency, versioning, errors, and events

JSONLDContext

JSONLDContext

Build 2

SDKs, sample code, and the tooling you integrate with

CodeOfConduct

CodeOfConduct

GitHubRepository

GitHubRepository

Access & Security 3

Authentication, authorization, and security posture

SecurityPolicy

SecurityPolicy

VulnerabilityDisclosure

VulnerabilityDisclosure

DomainSecurity

DomainSecurity

Operate 2

Status, limits, changes, and where to get help

IssueTracker

IssueTracker

Releases

Releases

Commercial 1

Pricing, plans, and the legal terms of use

License

License

Company 1

The organization behind the API

Website

Website

Source (apis.yml)

aid: clinerules
name: .clinerules
x-type: convention
url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/clinerules/refs/heads/main/apis.yml
deliveryModel:
  model: self-hosted
  license: Apache-2.0
  open_source: true
  commercial: false
  callable_host: false
  label: Self-hosted open source · you run it yourself
  confidence: high
  source:
  - license
  generated: '2026-08-28'
  method: derived
accessModel:
  pricing: unknown
  onboarding: unknown
  trial: false
  try_now: false
  public: false
  label: Unknown
  confidence: low
  source: []
  generated: '2026-07-22'
  method: derived
created: '2025-01-01'
modified: '2026-04-27'
specificationVersion: '0.23'
type: Index
access: Public
position: Consuming
kind: standard
image: https://kinlane-images.s3.amazonaws.com/shared/apis-json/icons/clinerules.png
tags:
- AI Agents
- Cline
- Coding Standards
- Configuration
- Developer Workflow
- Prompt Engineering
description: .clinerules is the rule-file convention used by the Cline open-source AI coding agent. Projects expose persistent
  guidance to Cline by placing a .clinerules/ directory at the repository root containing one or more Markdown or text files.
  Each file may declare optional YAML frontmatter to scope its instructions to glob patterns so the agent only loads context
  relevant to the active task. The format is interoperable with AGENTS.md, .cursorrules, and .windsurfrules conventions, providing
  a cross-tool standard for codifying coding conventions, architectural decisions, and behavioural constraints for AI coding
  agents.
apis: []
common:
- type: IssueTracker
  url: https://github.com/cline/cline/issues
- type: Releases
  url: https://github.com/cline/cline/releases
- type: SecurityPolicy
  url: https://github.com/cline/cline/blob/main/SECURITY.md
- type: CodeOfConduct
  url: https://github.com/cline/cline/blob/main/CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md
- type: ContributionGuide
  url: https://github.com/cline/cline/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md
- type: License
  name: Apache-2.0
  url: https://github.com/cline/cline/blob/main/LICENSE
- type: VulnerabilityDisclosure
  url: security/clinerules-vulnerability-disclosure.yml
- type: DomainSecurity
  url: security/clinerules-domain-security.yml
- type: Website
  url: https://cline.bot
- type: Documentation
  url: https://docs.cline.bot/features/cline-rules
- type: GitHubRepository
  url: https://github.com/cline/cline
- type: JSONSchema
  url: json-schema/clinerules-rule-schema.json
- type: JSONLDContext
  url: json-ld/clinerules-context.jsonld
- type: LlmsText
  url: https://docs.cline.bot/llms.txt
maintainers:
- FN: Kin Lane
  email: kin@apievangelist.com

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