Cline, Roo Code, and IDE Agentic Coding

★ ★ Cline (github.com/cline/cline, Apache 2.0) is the dominant FOSS VS Code agentic coding extension in 2026. ★ Roo Code is a popular Cline fork. Both let an AI agent read your repo, edit files, run shell commands, and iterate — much like Cursor's agent mode but in VS Code with any model you point it at, including local Ollama.

For terminal pair programming see Aider; for IDE chat + tab completion see Continue.dev; for autonomous task agents see OpenHands. Strategic overview at agentic coding overview; coding model picks at coding models.

Cline

★ ★ Cline (formerly Claude Dev) — VS Code extension that runs an agent loop right in your editor.

• VS Code Marketplace install; ~free; Apache 2.0.
• Multi-provider: Anthropic, OpenAI, OpenRouter, Mistral, Ollama, LM Studio, Bedrock, Vertex, anything OpenAI-compat.
• The model can: read files, edit files, write new files, run terminal commands, browse a built-in browser tool, ask follow-up questions.
• Plan / Act mode — separate phases for planning then execution.
• Approval flow — every command and edit asks for approval before running (configurable).
• MCP server support — see MCP servers.
• Checkpoints — file-snapshot rollback per turn; great for "undo this whole change."
• Active development — multiple releases per month.

Roo Code

★ Roo Code (github.com/RooVetGit/Roo-Code, Apache 2.0) — actively-maintained Cline fork.

• Started as a Cline fork to add features the upstream maintainer wasn't ready to merge; community-driven.
• Custom modes (Architect / Code / Ask / Debug / Boomerang) — like Aider's architect / editor.
• Multi-mode "boomerang" — handing tasks between specialised modes.
• More aggressive feature velocity than Cline; some users prefer it for that.

Continue.dev

See the Continue.dev deep dive — the more conservative IDE assistant. Cline / Roo Code are agent-flavoured ("the model edits and runs"); Continue is assistant-flavoured ("you accept suggestions and tab-completions"). Different use cases.

Other notable

• Aider VS Code extension — wraps Aider; for those who want Aider's diff-based workflow inside VS Code.
• Cody (Sourcegraph) — IDE assistant; has free + paid + self-host enterprise tiers; strong on code search across large codebases.
• TabbyML — self-hosted Copilot alternative (github.com/TabbyML/tabby); FIM-focused; Apache 2.0.
• Bito, Pieces, Codium AI — closed / freemium; less self-host friendly.

Cline / Roo Code with local models — the honest 2026 verdict

• Works well for short tasks (1–5 step agent loops) with Qwen2.5-Coder 32B or Qwen 3 32B at Tier 2+ hardware (guide).
• Struggles with long autonomous loops on local 30B; tool-call format errors, malformed file edits, and JSON drift accumulate.
• Excellent with Claude Sonnet 4.7 / GPT-5 / DeepSeek V3 via API — local models are 6–12 months behind on agent reliability.
• Hybrid pattern — Cline pointed at LiteLLM which routes hard tasks to Claude API and routine tasks to local Ollama.

Configuring Cline for local Ollama

In VS Code settings:

• API Provider: Ollama
• Base URL: http://localhost:11434
• Model: qwen2.5-coder:32b (with a Modelfile that bumps num_ctx to 32768)
• Approve commands: start with manual approval; relax once you trust it
• Checkpoints: keep enabled

Common gotchas

• Default Ollama context is small. Set OLLAMA_NUM_CTX=32768 or use a Modelfile with PARAMETER num_ctx 32768. Cline sends a lot of context.
• Token budget runs out fast on long sessions. Use /clear analog (close the task) and start fresh.
• Auto-running commands is dangerous. Cline's approve-each-command default exists for a reason. Don't disable it on production machines.
• Model gets confused by huge files. Aider's repo-map approach handles this better; Cline can be more naive.
• MCP integrations — both Cline and Roo Code support MCP, but tool reliability depends on the model supporting tool calling well — Qwen 3, Llama 4, DeepSeek V3 are the strongest.

Cline vs. Aider in 2026

• Cline — VS Code; agent runs commands; less manual review per step; better with API frontier models; gorgeous when it works; frustrating when local model malforms.
• Aider — terminal; diff-by-diff review; more friction per change but more reliable with local 32B; architect mode is genuinely useful.
• Pick Cline if: you're a VS Code user who wants Cursor-flavour agent mode and have an API budget.
• Pick Aider if: you're terminal-first, want the most reliable local-model workflow, value the diff review.

Pick this if…

• VS Code user, want Cursor-shape agent mode: ★ ★ Cline.
• Want bleeding-edge features and modes: Roo Code.
• Want the more conservative IDE assistant: Continue.dev.
• Self-hosted Copilot only (FIM): TabbyML.
• Terminal-first: Aider.
• Local-only on Tier 2+ hardware: any of these works for short tasks; longer tasks favour Aider's diff workflow.
• Hybrid local + Claude: Cline + LiteLLM router; Claude for hard, local for routine.