`clinerules` — `.clinerules`¶

Summary¶

Custom repository instruction rules for the Cline AI assistant (formerly Claude Dev). It supports defining multi-file path-scoped rule combinations or single-file repository globals to standardize how the bot creates files, runs commands, and structures code.

Tool¶

Primary: Cline (cline)
Also read natively by: Roo Code (a popular Cline fork)

Support level¶

planned — v0.3

Canonical path(s)¶

.clinerules/ (directory containing multiple rule files)
.clinerules (single file at the workspace root)

Alternate / legacy path(s)¶

None documented.

File format¶

Markdown. When using the directory structure, the content within each markdown file is governed by YAML frontmatter to determine contextual scope.

Frontmatter¶

When splitting rules across multiple files inside a .clinerules/ directory, Cline uses frontmatter to selectively inject them:

Key	Type	Required	Default	Description
`paths`	string[] / string	No	None	Glob patterns used to determine which workspace files will trigger these rules via the `picomatch` library.

Discovery / scope behavior¶

Search: Walks the root directory looking for either a .clinerules file or a .clinerules/ directory.
Scope: Glob patterns in frontmatter map against candidate files active in the user's prompt or context. If they match, the rule is loaded.
Merge strategy: If multiple files in .clinerules/ are matched in context, they are concatenated. Global rules in a user's setting profile are applied alongside workspace rules.

Repo-safe¶

Yes. This file or directory is meant to be committed to version history to enforce consistent AI guidelines across the repository.

Renderer notes¶

Target ID: clinerules
Output path: .clinerules/ (the renderer will default to the directory structure to support role-based scoped rules).
Template: templates/clinerules.j2
OutputTargets field: clinerules: bool
Notes: Outputting exactly like cursor-rules, where a default.md handles the global paths, and subsequent role.md files contain the YAML paths: frontmatter block matching the Globs arrays for context boundaries.

Known limitations / gotchas¶

The .clinerules/ directory inherently reserves sub-folders like workflows, hooks, and skills for advanced Cline operations. Rendered rules must not clash with these reserved names.
It uses picomatch for glob evaluations, which allows standard advanced **/*.ts inclusion scopes.

Official references¶

Cline GitHub Repository .clinerules implementation tracking: https://github.com/cline/cline (accessed 2026-03-07)

Minimal example¶

---
paths:
  - "src/frontend/**/*.tsx"
  - "docs/**"
---

# Frontend Docs Rules
Always use functional components and document them with accurate JSDoc strings.
Never modify backend components from this scope.

Internal mapping notes¶

Not yet implemented.

clinerules — .clinerules¶