To connect Cline to ToolRouter, open the MCP Servers panel, choose Configure MCP Servers, and add a toolrouter entry pointing at https://api.toolrouter.com/mcp with "type": "streamableHttp". No API key is needed — ToolRouter provisions an account on the first connect, and the tools work with whichever model provider Cline is using.
Install with one click
Open Cline's MCP settings
- In the Cline panel, click the MCP Servers icon in the top toolbar.
- Open the Configure tab.
- Click Configure MCP Servers near the bottom.
That opens the MCP settings JSON. Add or update an entry under mcpServers. Cline's CLI uses ~/.cline/mcp.json for the same purpose.
Remote server (recommended)
{
"mcpServers": {
"toolrouter": {
"type": "streamableHttp",
"url": "https://api.toolrouter.com/mcp",
"disabled": false,
"autoApprove": []
}
}
}type and url are what mark a server as remote in Cline; disabled and autoApprove are optional and shown here because Cline writes them itself.
Leave autoApprove empty to start. It is the list of tools Cline may run without asking you, and ToolRouter's catalog includes tools that spend credits, write files and contact external services.
Local bridge
{
"mcpServers": {
"toolrouter": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "toolrouter-mcp"],
"disabled": false,
"autoApprove": []
}
}
}This form requires Node.js 18+. If you already have MCP servers configured, add the "toolrouter" entry inside the existing "mcpServers" object — do not replace the file.
What you see on the first call
There is no sign-up step, which surprises people the first time. ToolRouter provisions an anonymous account the moment your client connects, so free tools work immediately, and the result of your very first tool call carries a short notice for the assistant to pass on: the account is anonymous and belongs to this session, free tools work as they are, signing in is only needed to pay for paid tools or to keep the account and its history — and here is the link to do that.
Until you use that link the account cannot buy credits, run paid tools, save provider credentials or create API keys, and its history is not recoverable after the session. Claiming it is free and takes about 30 seconds, or is instant if you are already signed in on toolrouter.com. See what is a ToolRouter claim link?.
A real example prompt and its result
Ask for something that needs live data, so you can tell a tool call apart from a plausible guess:
Use ToolRouter to get the current weather in London. Tell me which ToolRouter skill you called and show every field it returned.
The assistant should call discover to find the tool, then use_tool with weather-forecast and the current_weather skill. The result is a JSON detail record — on a live call on 5 September 2026 it carried eight fields:
{
"location": "London, United Kingdom",
"temperature": "17.95°C",
"feels_like": "17.52°C",
"condition": "Partly cloudy",
"humidity": "66%",
"wind": "12.96 km/h W",
"cloud_cover": "33%",
"visibility": "10000 m"
}Values change; the shape does not. If the assistant answers with a temperature but cannot name the skill or show the fields, it has not called a tool.
Why the tool list stays short
The connection exposes a fixed 47 tool definitions — a measured 9,286 tokens — where discover searches the catalog and use_tool runs a named skill, so the 254 tools and 1,345 skills in the catalog as of 3 September 2026 cost nothing at connect time. The schema-weight benchmark has the method and the raw data.
What it costs in Cline
Free tools stay free and need no account. A paid call costs the tool's own price plus a flat $0.005 platform fee, so paid tools start at $0.005, and a paid call that fails is not charged. Subscriptions are optional: Lite is $9/mo and Plus is $19/mo, each including credits. See pricing and billing before running anything high-volume.
Cline MCP troubleshooting
The server shows as disconnected
Open MCP Servers → Configure and read the error next to toolrouter. A remote entry missing "type": "streamableHttp" is the usual cause; so is a trailing comma in the JSON.
Should I put anything in autoApprove?
Only tools you are willing to have run unattended. Read and search tools are reasonable; anything that writes, deletes, spends credits or contacts people is not, until you have watched it work.
Does this depend on which model I use in Cline?
No. MCP tools are available to whatever provider and model Cline is configured with — the tool call happens outside the model.
Do I need Node.js?
Only for the local-bridge form. The streamableHttp entry has no local dependency.
A paid tool is refused
Paid tools need a claimed account with credits. Use the claim link from the first-call notice, or ask Cline to run account_setup to produce it again.
Related guides
Checked on 5 September 2026 against Cline's MCP configuration documentation for the UI steps, config path and JSON keys, and the toolrouter-mcp README for the ToolRouter snippet. The weather result above is from a live call on the same day.