Cline on Codex Pooler

Cline CLI accepts openai as shorthand for its OpenAI-compatible provider and stores it as openai-compatible. Configure it with the Pool API key, the Codex Pooler /v1 base URL, and the model id that your assigned Pool can serve.

Before you start

• Cline CLI installed and ready to use.
• A Codex Pooler URL reachable from the client.
• A Pool API key and a model available to that Pool.

Use a Pool API key for model requests. Operator MCP access is optional and uses a separate token.

Configure the connection

Run the following command in a shell with CODEX_POOLER_API_KEY set to your Pool API key:

cline auth \
  --provider openai \
  --apikey "$CODEX_POOLER_API_KEY" \
  --baseurl https://codex-pooler.example.com/v1 \
  --modelid gpt-6-sol

For local setup, change --baseurl to http://localhost:4000/v1.

Choose a model

Use --modelid above to select a model available to your Pool.

Cline’s user-facing model metadata names are contextWindow, maxInputTokens, and maxTokens. A long-profile example uses contextWindow: 828400, maxInputTokens: 700400, and maxTokens: 128000 for a model whose selected Pool catalog source reports an 872000-token raw ceiling. Provider accounts can temporarily report different ceilings for the same model; a selected 272000-token profile exposes 258400, so use /v1/models.context_length as the authoritative contextWindow and adjust the input budget rather than configuring a raw ceiling. In the long-profile example, Cline applies its fixed 90% compaction ratio to the explicit input limit and starts compaction at 630360 tokens. maxTokens remains a separate response cap.

Verify the connection

Check the headless CLI path after saving auth:

cline --provider openai \
  --model gpt-6-sol \
  --json \
  --auto-approve false \
  'Reply with exactly: cline ok'

In Codex Pooler’s request logs, match the request time, API key, model, and final status to your test. A reply alone does not confirm that the client used your Pooler instance.

Operator MCP (optional)

For optional operator MCP in Cline CLI, add the remote server to ~/.cline/mcp.json. Codex Pooler does not require this for model use. The VS Code extension opens its own MCP settings JSON from the Cline MCP Servers panel; use the same mcpServers shape there.

~/.cline/mcp.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "codex_pooler": {
      "url": "https://codex-pooler.example.com/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer <operator-mcp-token>"
      },
      "disabled": false,
      "autoApprove": []
    }
  }
}

For local MCP setup, change the MCP url to http://localhost:4000/mcp.

Use a Pool API key for /v1 model requests and an operator MCP token for /mcp. Do not reuse the Pool API key for MCP.

Compatibility notes

This client uses Codex Pooler’s narrow OpenAI-compatible /v1 surface. For shared route support and limits, see OpenAI-compatible SDKs.