> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://gateway.consus.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Cline

> Connect Cline to Consus Gateway for AI-assisted coding in government environments.

[Cline](https://cline.bot) is an AI coding agent that runs inside VS Code. You can point it at Consus Gateway to get Claude in your editor while keeping all traffic within government-authorized cloud infrastructure.

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</video>

## 1. Set Up Your API Key

You'll enter your Consus Gateway API key as a custom header in the Cline settings panel (no environment variable needed).

## 2. Configure Cline

Open VS Code and click the Cline icon in the sidebar. In the settings panel at the top of the Cline view:

1. Set **API Provider** to `OpenAI Compatible`
2. Set **Base URL** to `https://api.consus.io/v1`
3. Set **API Key** to any non-empty placeholder such as `dummy`. Consus reads your key from the `x-api-key` header (step 4 below), not this field, but Cline requires it to be non-empty.
4. Under **Custom Headers**, add a header with name `x-api-key` and your Consus Gateway API key as the value

> **Important:** Consus Gateway authenticates via the `x-api-key` custom header, so that header must hold your real key. The **API Key** field is required by Cline but ignored by the gateway, so any non-empty placeholder (such as `dummy`) works there. The header name must be exactly `x-api-key` (all lowercase, with hyphens); a typo like `x-api-ky` will result in a `403` error with no error body.

5. Set **Model ID** to any composite model ID from the [Models page](/models). For example, `gpt-5.4:itar`.

Click **Save** to apply.

## 3. Start Coding

Open a task in Cline and start prompting. All requests route through Consus Gateway to government-authorized cloud infrastructure.

Streaming, tool use (file reads, writes, terminal commands, browser actions), and multi-turn conversations all work out of the box.