Connect Cline to Router One with an OpenAI-compatible provider
Cline is an open-source AI coding agent for VS Code that brings its own bill: you plug in an API provider and pay for what the agent consumes. Pointing Cline's OpenAI-compatible provider at Router One gives it access to GPT, Claude, Gemini, and Grok family models behind one key — with a per-request cost trace, so you can see exactly what each coding session cost.
Configure Cline to use the Router One base URL
In Cline's settings, choose "OpenAI Compatible" as the API provider and fill in three fields — base URL, API key, and the model ID copied from the /models page:
# Cline → Settings → API Provider: OpenAI Compatible Base URL: https://api.router.one/v1 API Key: sk-your-router-one-key Model ID: <copy the exact ID from /models>
Which model ID should Cline send?
Copy the exact model ID from /models, preserving case, hyphens, and version suffixes; do not substitute a display name. Open its detail page and match the supported API endpoints, context window, and capabilities such as tool calling to the provider and features selected in Cline. A catalog listing does not mean the client can use every feature of that model. Give each tool a dedicated API key with a maxSpend cap.
Which API protocol is Cline using?
OpenAI-compatible describes an interface format; it does not make Chat Completions (/v1/chat/completions), Responses (/v1/responses), and Anthropic Messages (/v1/messages) interchangeable. Check the installed client version, provider configuration, and actual request path against the model detail page and API compatibility fact sheet. A successful plain-text chat does not establish support for hosted tools, conversation state, or file-editing features.
Verify the Cline call in your request trace
Send a simple text request from Cline, then match its trace in Dashboard → Logs by time, model, and request_id: tokens, cost, latency, and status. Next, test streaming, tool calls, and multi-turn history separately. For failures, retain the actual request path, full error message, and request_id. If there is no matching log, check client configuration and connectivity before attributing the error to the gateway or upstream.
FAQ
Where do these settings live in Cline?
Open the Cline panel in VS Code → settings (gear icon) → API Provider → select "OpenAI Compatible". The three fields are Base URL, API Key, and Model ID.
Which models can Cline use through the gateway?
Choose a current catalog model that supports both the endpoint and the features Cline uses. Check /models and the model detail page for the exact ID, current rates, and capabilities; a family name such as GPT or Claude is not a compatibility guarantee. Seeing a model in the picker confirms discovery, so verify an actual request too.
Models are listed, but requests fail with 400 or 404. What should I check?
Record the actual request path and error message, then check the exact model ID. A 400 can indicate invalid parameters, unsupported tools, or a model/endpoint mismatch; a 404 can indicate an incorrect path or missing resource, so it does not by itself establish that a model was retired. If the error says must be called via, use the named endpoint or select a model supported on the current endpoint. Do not add or remove /v1 or /chat/completions across all clients indiscriminately.
Does this work from Mainland China?
Yes. The gateway is reachable from Mainland China without a VPN, and the configuration is identical to the global setup.
How do I debug a 401/402/403/429?
Match the request and error message in Dashboard → Logs. For 401, check whether the key was sent and is valid; for 402, check wallet balance and maxSpend; for 403, check key permissions and access restrictions. For 429, distinguish request/token limits from upstream throttling using the error details. Keep the request_id and follow the error-codes reference.