🤖 Cline — Autonomous AI Coding Agent

Cline
MCP Server Setup Guide

Cline is an open-source autonomous AI coding agent for VS Code. MCP servers are configured via the Cline settings panel inside VS Code — a UI-based approach similar to Windsurf.

HTTP + stdio VS Code settings panel autonomous agent

Transport

HTTP + stdio

Config method

VS Code settings panel

IDE

VS Code only

Agent type

Autonomous (agentic)

Prerequisites

Cline extension — install from VS Code Marketplace (search "Cline")
anonym.legal API key — Pro or Business plan
LLM API key — Cline requires its own LLM (Claude, GPT-4o, etc.)

Installation via Cline Settings Panel

Open Cline MCP Settings

Click the Cline icon in the VS Code activity bar. In the Cline panel header, click the MCP Servers button (server icon) or go to Settings → MCP Servers.

Add New Server — HTTP Method

Click + Add Server. Select Remote (HTTP) and fill in:

Name:      anonym-legal
URL:       https://anonym.legal/mcp
Headers:   Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY

Alternative: Manual JSON Config

Cline stores MCP config in VS Code's settings storage. You can also edit it directly in VS Code settings (Ctrl+Shift+P → Open User Settings JSON):

{
  "cline.mcpServers": {
    "anonym-legal": {
      "url": "https://anonym.legal/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"
      },
      "disabled": false
    }
  }
}

Verify Connection

The Cline MCP panel shows all servers with connection status. A green dot indicates successful connection. You should see 7 tools listed under the anonym-legal server.

Available Tools (7)

anonym_legal_analyze_text
free

Scan text and return all detected PII entities with type, position, and confidence score — without modifying anything.

anonym_legal_anonymize_text
tokens

Replace PII with reversible tokens using configurable operators per entity type. Returns anonymized text + session token map.

anonym_legal_detokenize_text
free

Restore original PII values from session tokens. Used to de-anonymize AI responses.

anonym_legal_get_balance
free

Returns your current token balance, plan tier, and next reset date.

anonym_legal_estimate_cost
free

Preview token cost for a text before anonymizing it. No tokens consumed.

anonym_legal_list_sessions
free

List all active tokenization sessions with creation time, entity count, and expiry.

anonym_legal_delete_session
free

Delete a session and all stored tokens — for GDPR right-to-erasure compliance.

Operators (6)

replace

Substitute with custom text or entity type label.
John Smith → [CLIENT] or [PERSON]

redact

Remove entirely — no trace left in the text.
john@acme.com → (removed)

hash

SHA-256 or SHA-512 — deterministic, one-way. Enables deduplication across documents.
John Smith → a3f9b1...

encrypt

AES-256 with your personal key — reversible only by key holder.
4111-xxxx → enc:U2FsdGVkX1...

mask

Partial replacement — configurable chars from start or end.
john@acme.com → jo**@****.com

keep

Detect but pass through unchanged. Useful to audit without modifying.
John Smith → John Smith (tracked)

Using with Cline's Agentic Mode

Cline operates autonomously — it can chain multiple MCP tool calls in a single task. For PII-sensitive tasks, you can instruct it to always pre-anonymize:

IMPORTANT: Before processing any customer data in this task,
use anonym_legal_anonymize_text to redact all personal information.
After completion, use anonym_legal_detokenize_text to restore names
in the final report.

Task: Analyze the customer feedback in feedback.csv and write
a summary report with key themes.

Troubleshooting

Server added but shows "failed" status

Check your API key. Test with curl: curl -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_KEY" https://anonym.legal/mcp. If you get a valid JSON response, the key is correct — try removing and re-adding the server in Cline.

Cline doesn't invoke MCP tools automatically

Cline may request confirmation before invoking tools in some modes. Check Cline's "Auto-approve MCP tools" setting if you want fully autonomous operation.

stdio setup: command not found

Use absolute path for npx. Cline runs commands in a restricted environment. Find the path: which npx (macOS/Linux). Example: /usr/local/bin/npx.

ClineMCP Server Setup Guide