# Cline CLI 3.0.73: our test log

Canonical: https://theagenticweekly.com/tests/cline-cli · Last verified: 2026-10-25 · Published: 2026-10-25 · Author: Agentic Weekly (operated independently from Texas, US) · Evidence: Tested by us on 2026-10-25. Local open-weight model, not the vendor's hosted models. A smoke test on a CPU-only box, not a benchmark.

> Cline CLI 3.0.73 edited calc.py correctly with a local 3B model, then failed on every follow-up command with 'Invalid input' until the session was aborted at 68 s.

## Result at a glance

Table: Cline CLI test record

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Result | Partly worked |
| Version tested | 3.0.73 |
| Date and time | 2026-10-25, 23:04 CDT (America/Chicago) |
| Task | In a throwaway folder, give the tool a small bug and ask a local model to fix it through the tool's own file-editing. calc.py contained `def add(a, b): return a - b`; we asked: 'The function add in calc.py subtracts instead of adding. Fix it by editing calc.py.' Run once with --yolo (no confirmations). |
| Model used | Qwen2.5-3B-Instruct (Q4_K_M) through Ollama 0.40.11 |
| Hardware | Linux x86_64 virtual machine (Debian 13), 8 vCPU (Intel Xeon, 1 thread per core), 15 GiB RAM, no GPU |
| Install (npm, cold) | 12.8 s, 408 MB, 357 packages |
| Edit task | file fixed; follow-up command tool failed; aborted after 68 s |

## What we found

- The core edit worked: calc.py was changed during the run (file time inside the run window) and read `return a + b` afterwards.
- Every attempt to verify the change with the run_commands tool failed with {"error":"✖ Invalid input"}; the model retried the same call twice more and the session then ended with an abort message. We did not find out whether that comes from the 3B model emitting malformed arguments or from Cline's tool schema; we did not dig into it.
- We count this as Partly worked, so the tool entry on /tools stays Reported.

## What we ran, step by step

Table: Commands run, wall-clock time and exit code

| Step | Wall time | Exit code | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| npm install on Node 20 (cold) | 12.8 s | 0 | 408 MB in 357 packages; load 2.91. The package ships a native binary. |
| Edit task (one trial) | 68.5 s | 0 | calc.py was modified during the run and ended as `return a + b`; the session then looped on run_commands errors and ended with '[abort] aborted by another client'. Load 5.15. |

Exact commands (paths shortened)

```
# npm install on Node 20 (cold)
npm install cline
```

## Raw output (excerpts)

Command

```
HOME=work/cl-home DO_NOT_TRACK=1 cline --yolo -P ollama -m qwen2.5-3b -k ollama --config cfg --data-dir data -t 150 'The function add in calc.py subtracts instead of adding. Fix it by editing calc.py.'
```

Tail of the output (colour codes removed)

```
⎿ error: {"error":"✖ Invalid input"}
I was unable to verify the edit immediately. To proceed, I will run a simple test case to ensure that the `add` function works as expected.

Let's test the `add` function with a couple of test cases:

- `add(5, 3)` should return `8`.
- `add(-1, 1)` should return `0`.

I will execute the tests and read the output to confirm the function works as intended.


[run_commands]
   ⎿ error: {"error":"✖ Invalid input"}
It seems I encountered an issue again with the tests. Let me re-run the test cases to ensure the function `add` in `calc.py` behaves as expected.

- Test case 1: `add(5, 3)` should return `8`.
- Test case 2: `add(-1, 1)` should return `0`.

I will run these tests to verify the functionality.


[run_commands]
   ⎿ error: {"error":"✖ Invalid input"}
[abort] aborted by another client

---
def add(a, b):
    return a + b
```

## Gotchas and things that broke

- The npm package starts a native binary; run it with an isolated --data-dir and HOME so it does not read your real settings.
- One trial only, so the failure pattern is not a rate.

## What we did not test

- The VS Code extension, which is how most people use Cline.
- Any hosted model; a repeat of the failed tool call.

## Reproduce it

Versions change. These commands install whatever is latest on the day you run them unless a version is pinned, so expect different results later. The version we measured is in the table above.

```
npm install cline
# create calc.py with `return a - b`, then run the command above with a local model served at 127.0.0.1:11434
```

## How to read this test

Every number on this page was measured on this one machine, which also ran other jobs, so timings are indicative and vary run to run. A pass means our small task worked once or as stated, a fail means it did not work as we ran it; neither says how the tool behaves with a vendor's frontier model, on a GPU, or at scale. Where a tool could not run without an account or a GPU, we say so instead of guessing.

See the [testing rig](https://theagenticweekly.com/methodology#testing-rig) for the hardware, the local model and the rules we follow, and the [test hub](https://theagenticweekly.com/tests) for every other test.

## FAQ

### Does Cline work with a local model?

Partly in our single trial: it fixed the file but failed to run the follow-up commands with a 3B model.

## Sources

- [Cline repository](https://github.com/cline/cline) (fetched 2026-10-25)

## Related

- [All test logs](https://theagenticweekly.com/tests)
- [Methodology and testing rig](https://theagenticweekly.com/methodology#testing-rig)
- [Study: install size and first-task results across 16 frameworks](https://theagenticweekly.com/research/agent-framework-install-and-first-task)
- [Study: the silent version downgrade on older Node, and other install traps](https://theagenticweekly.com/research/older-node-silent-downgrades)

## How to cite

Agentic Weekly, "Cline CLI 3.0.73: our test log", last updated 2026-10-25, https://theagenticweekly.com/tests/cline-cli