Use Cline with Chinese AI models through ChinaAPI.

Setup

Configure the OpenAI Compatible provider.

1. Open the Cline settings panel from the gear icon or the API Provider dropdown below the chat area.
2. Set API Provider to OpenAI Compatible.
3. Set Base URL to https://dash.chinaapi.ai/v1.
4. Paste your ChinaAPI token into API Key.
5. Set Model or Model ID to an exact live ID such as kimi-k2.7-code or deepseek-v4-pro.
6. Click Verify if your Cline version exposes that button, then send a short test message.

Copy-paste test

Test with a tiny Cline prompt.

After saving the provider, ask Cline:

Create a minimal Node.js function called summarizeFiles(paths) that returns file names and byte sizes. Do not modify files yet.

For a direct API smoke test, use:

curl https://dash.chinaapi.ai/v1/chat/completions \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sk-..." \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"model":"kimi-k2.7-code","messages":[{"role":"user","content":"Say Cline is connected."}],"stream":true}'

Troubleshooting

Common Cline issues.

Thinking models such as qwen3.7-max can spend time generating reasoning tokens before answering. Enable streaming or raise the request timeout if Cline stops before the answer arrives.

Model not found: copy the exact ID from live pricing. Do not use display names like "DeepSeek V4" unless the pricing page shows that exact ID.

401: make sure the key starts with sk- and is in the API Key field for the OpenAI Compatible provider, not another provider profile.