Cline Rules: workspace, global, and conditional rules

Workspace rules go in a .clinerules/ or .cline/rules/ directory at the project root. Both layouts are supported and are meant for team standards you share through version control. The official docs describe these locations as directories, not a single file.

• Global rules on Windows: Documents\Cline\Rules
• Global rules on macOS: ~/Documents/Cline/Rules
• Global rules on Linux and WSL: ~/Documents/Cline/Rules
• Workspace rules take precedence over conflicting global rules
• Numeric prefixes such as 01-coding.md help ordering but are optional

my-project/
  .clinerules/
    01-coding.md
    02-testing.md

Cline detects several rule formats and shows them in its Rules panel, so teams that already use other tools can keep their existing files.

• Cursor Rules: .cursorrules
• Windsurf Rules: .windsurfrules
• AGENTS.md at the project root, or ~/.agents/AGENTS.md, for cross-tool compatibility

Add YAML frontmatter with a paths list to a workspace rule to make it apply only when the current context matches those globs. Context includes open tabs, visible files, mentioned paths, edited files, and pending operations. A rule without frontmatter is always active unless you disable it.

---
paths:
  - "src/components/**"
  - "src/hooks/**"
---

Use function components and hooks.

To toggle rules, click the scale icon at the bottom of the Cline panel, to the left of the model selector. Every rule has its own switch, so you can disable one without deleting the file. The same panel has a New rule file button, and the /newrule slash command lets Cline write a rule for you.

Workflows are markdown files with step by step instructions that live alongside Cline Rules. You run one by typing a slash followed by the workflow file name in chat.

/YOUR_WORKFLOW.md

MCP servers are configured in cline_mcp_settings.json. In the IDE extension, open it from the MCP Servers icon, then the Configure tab, then Configure MCP Servers. The CLI keeps it at ~/.cline/data/settings/cline_mcp_settings.json, which the CLINE_MCP_SETTINGS_PATH environment variable can override.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "local-server": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/server.js"],
      "env": {
        "API_KEY": "YOUR_VALUE"
      },
      "disabled": false,
      "autoApprove": []
    }
  }
}