Cline is one of the most-installed AI coding agents for VS Code — free, open-source, and MCP-native. Where GitHub Copilot bolted MCP on later, Cline treated servers as a core feature, with a built-in way to add them and a marketplace to discover them. If you want tools like GitHub, Postgres or a browser inside your editor's agent, here's the setup.
Add a server from Cline's UI
The fastest path is the MCP panel. Open Cline in the VS Code sidebar, go to its MCP Servers view, and add a server there — you paste a config or install one from the marketplace, and Cline writes it into its settings for you. This is the route most people should take: it validates the JSON and reloads the server without a manual restart.
Editing the config directly
If you prefer to hand-edit, Cline keeps its servers in a cline_mcp_settings.json file reachable from the same MCP view. The structure is the familiar one — a named entry with command and args for a local server:
{
"mcpServers": {
"github": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-github"]
}
}
}
Save, and Cline reloads it. Once connected, the server's tools appear to the agent and it can call them mid-task without you approving each one by hand.
Local vs remote transports
Cline speaks both. Local servers run over stdio — an npx or uvx command Cline launches for you, ideal for a filesystem or a local database. Remote servers connect over HTTP to a hosted, OAuth-protected endpoint, which is how you'd attach something like the official GitHub or X server. The choice mirrors every other client: stdio for local, Streamable HTTP for remote.
The MCP marketplace
Cline's headline convenience is its in-editor marketplace: a browsable list of servers you can install in a click, rather than hunting down configs. It's a fast way to try tools, but the usual caution applies — a server runs with your permissions, so vet anything before you install it, exactly as you would a VS Code extension.
Going further
For the servers worth adding first, see best MCP servers for developers and best MCP servers for Cursor — the picks translate directly. Weighing editors? Read Cline vs Roo Code and the VS Code MCP setup guide. Keep installs safe with MCP security best practices.