Cline 3 48 0 Skills And Websearch Make Cline Smarter
Source
cline.bot
Author
Cline evaluation and engineering blog
Date
Why it matters
Skills load on demand, so you can install many without spending context tokenThe chunk of text a model reads and writes in — roughly three-quarters of a word — and the unit AI usage is billed in.Full definition → until needed. Skill descriptions drive activation, so write them to say precisely when to use the skill.
Key takeaways · AI-distilled
At the start of a conversation Cline sees only each agent skillA reusable instruction file that teaches an agent how to do one job well — the procedure, the tools, and what counts as done.Full definition →'s name and description, and loads the full SKILL.md instructions only when a request matches. Unlike always-on rules, installed skills cost no context windowThe maximum amount of text a model can consider at once — its working memory for the current conversation or task.Full definition → until used.
Skills can live globally in ~/.cline/skills/ or per project in .cline/skills/. When a global and a project skill share a name, Cline gives the global skill precedence.
The new websearch and web fetch tools return page content as text instead of launching a headless browser and reading screenshots, which Cline says makes lookups faster and lighter on context. They require the Cline provider with account credits.
Terms in this piece · Glossary
agent skill — A reusable instruction file that teaches an agent how to do one job well — the procedure, the tools, and what counts as done.
context window — The maximum amount of text a model can consider at once — its working memory for the current conversation or task.
token — The chunk of text a model reads and writes in — roughly three-quarters of a word — and the unit AI usage is billed in.
