Cline

This guide shows how to integrate Cline with Maybe Don’t using hooks.

Prerequisites

• Maybe Don’t gateway running in http or sse mode (see Get Started)
• Cline installed in VS Code
• jq and curl on PATH
• MAYBE_DONT_URL environment variable set (e.g., http://localhost:8080)
• macOS or Linux (the reference bash scripts require a Unix shell)

Install the Hook

Export the hook script into your project’s .clinerules/hooks/ directory:

mkdir -p .clinerules/hooks
maybe-dont hooks export --agent cline > .clinerules/hooks/maybe-dont-hook.sh
chmod +x .clinerules/hooks/maybe-dont-hook.sh

Configure Cline

Export the config snippet:

maybe-dont hooks export --agent cline --config

This outputs the configuration to place in .clinerules/hooks/. Update the command path to where you placed the hook script:

{
  "hooks": {
    "preToolUse": {
      "command": ".clinerules/hooks/maybe-dont-hook.sh"
    },
    "postToolUse": {
      "command": ".clinerules/hooks/maybe-dont-hook.sh"
    }
  }
}

Set the gateway URL before launching VS Code:

export MAYBE_DONT_URL="http://localhost:8080"

Supported Events

Verify It Works

Open VS Code with Cline and trigger a tool call. Check the gateway’s audit log for entries — you should see an intercept record for the tool call.

The hook is silent on allow. On deny, you’ll see stderr output like:

[maybe-dont] WARNING (PostToolUse): Policy violation detected — <reason>

Filtering

Cline hooks support a matcher field using Claude Code-compatible regex syntax. The matcher filters which tools trigger the hook based on tool name.

{
  "hooks": {
    "PreToolUse": [
      {
        "matcher": ".*",
        "hooks": [
          {
            "type": "command",
            "command": ".clinerules/hooks/maybe-dont-hook.sh"
          }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}

Use a specific pattern like "execute_command" to match only CLI tools, or ".*" to match all tools. See the Cline hooks documentation for details.

Agent-Specific Notes

• The reference hook scripts are bash — they require macOS or Linux. On Windows, you can write your own hook in any language that calls the intercept endpoint.
• Hook configuration lives in .clinerules/hooks/ in your project root.
• Cline passes tool details as JSON on stdin to the hook script.