Cline Desktop With Kimi and DeepSeek: A Practical Setup Guide

ByteGrad's Cline Desktop walkthrough shows one coding workspace switching between Kimi K3.1 Pro and DeepSeek V4 Pro while reviewing code, using Git worktrees, forking sessions and setting up scheduled tasks. The important setup distinction is simple: Cline is the agent app, not the model. Installing it does not download Kimi, DeepSeek, GLM or Qwen weights. You supply hosted model access through ClinePass or an API key, or separately run a supported model server on your own hardware.

Watch ByteGrad's Cline Desktop Test

The build and rewind are ByteGrad's demonstrations, not tests we independently repeated. The exact in-app model list can change faster than Cline's public catalog.

Choose Your Model Route Before Installing Anything Else

Cline's current ClinePass page lists GLM 5.3, DeepSeek V4 Pro and V4 Flash, Qwen3.7/3.8 variants and Kimi K3. It does not list Kimi K3.1 Pro as of 1 November 2026. ByteGrad selects K3.1 Pro in the video, but that does not establish that the public subscription includes it today. Confirm your own account's model picker and billing route before purchase.

Step 1: Install Cline Desktop and Open a Safe Project

1. Open Cline's official Desktop page and choose the installer for your operating system. The current Cline home page offers Mac, Windows and Linux downloads; the install guide still calls Windows a beta, so check the download page for the latest platform status.
2. Install and open Cline. Choose a small project you control, not a production checkout or a folder with credentials. ByteGrad opens a screenshot-beautifier app for the demo.
3. Make sure the project is committed in Git, or create a disposable copy first. Review Cline's permission prompts and keep automatic command execution off for the first run. Cline's own site describes Plan and Act modes and approval controls.
4. Ask Cline to explain the folder structure before it edits anything. This confirms it can read the intended project and gives you a baseline.

Step 2: Try the Listed GLM, Qwen or DeepSeek Models

1. In Cline's provider settings, choose ClinePass, sign in and subscribe only after checking the current model list and quota. Cline documents this path in its authorization guide.
2. Pick GLM 5.3 for a multi-file implementation trial, a listed Qwen variant for a comparison, or DeepSeek V4 Pro to follow ByteGrad's model switch. The current ClinePass list names these families; labels and availability may change in the app.
3. Run the same small, bounded task on one model at a time in separate sessions or worktrees. Record correctness, elapsed time, revisions and spend or quota. Do not call a model “best” based on one generated patch.

Cost check: Cline currently advertises ClinePass at $9.99 per month with quotas and possible processing fees. BYOK uses provider pricing instead. Those are different billing paths, not a single unlimited plan.

For model-family context, read Z.ai's GLM 5.3 release and Qwen's 3.8 release. Their benchmark and capability descriptions are vendor claims; they do not prove how either model will perform on your repository or through Cline's particular provider route.

Step 3: Connect the Exact Kimi K3.1 Pro API Model

To request K3.1 Pro rather than the K3 model on the public ClinePass list, start at Kimi Open Platform's key guide. Its K3.1 Pro quickstart uses the pay-as-you-go model ID kimi-k3.1-pro and the OpenAI-compatible endpoint https://api.moonshot.ai/v1. This is not the k3.1-pro ID used by the separate Kimi Code membership product.

1. Create a Kimi Open Platform account, complete any required top-up and create an API key. Check the current price page and set a spend limit if the console offers one.
2. In Cline's model settings, select a Moonshot/Kimi provider if your installed version offers the exact API model. Otherwise use OpenAI Compatible, enter base URL https://api.moonshot.ai/v1, your Kimi API key in Cline's secret field, and model ID kimi-k3.1-pro. These are the three fields in Cline's compatible-provider guide.
3. Save, reopen settings to verify the endpoint and ID persisted, then send a tiny read-only request. If Cline reports an unsupported model or tool-call error, check the provider's current compatibility notes; do not silently substitute K3 and label the run K3.1.

As of this article's source check, Moonshot's release note still describes K3.1 Pro weights as forthcoming by 4 November 2026. An API connection is not a local model download. Our full Kimi guide covers the browser, Code CLI and weight-status distinction.

Step 4: Add DeepSeek V4.1 Flash Without Confusing It With V4 Pro

ByteGrad switches to DeepSeek V4 Pro at 05:38. The newer 17 October DeepSeek release is V4.1 Flash 1017. DeepSeek's live model table maps deepseek-flash to V4.1 Flash 1017 and deepseek-v4-pro to V4 Pro 0813. An earlier September note said Pro would route to Flash, but the later changelog explicitly kept Pro available. Use the current model table rather than that superseded plan.

1. Create a DeepSeek API key through the official platform and review current pricing. Keep the key out of chat, source files and screenshots.
2. In Cline, choose the DeepSeek provider if it exposes the exact deepseek-flash model. If it does not, choose OpenAI Compatible, set base URL https://api.deepseek.com, enter the API key in Cline's secret field, and set model ID deepseek-flash. Those endpoint and ID values come from DeepSeek's official API table.
3. Verify with a small read-only task. If you specifically need the video-era Pro model, select deepseek-v4-pro and label your run accordingly. Do not assume ClinePass's “V4 Flash” label necessarily maps to the current 1017 revision without confirmation from its provider catalog.

DeepSeek publishes V4.1 Flash 1017 weights, but that is a separate self-hosting path with substantial GPU and storage requirements. Our DeepSeek install guide covers that hardware decision; most first-time Cline users should start with the hosted API.

Desktop beta troubleshooting: a reported issue for Desktop 0.0.48 says OpenAI Compatible fields can reset to the default URL. If the saved endpoint changes, update Cline and recheck the stored provider settings. Do not run a test until it shows the intended URL; an accidental request to the wrong endpoint may fail or send data to the wrong service.

What the Video Shows Beyond Model Switching

At 03:39, ByteGrad reviews the patch and uses Git worktrees for separate agents. A worktree gives another working directory tied to the same repository; it helps keep experiments apart but is not a secret or network boundary. The video then shows queued messages, session forks and rewinding changes. Before accepting a rewind, inspect the Git status so you do not discard your own uncommitted work.

At 06:38, he tours skills and MCP connections. Add one integration only when the task requires it, and inspect what files, accounts and remote services it can reach. At 07:32, scheduled reviews and documentation updates are tempting. Begin with a report-only schedule on a non-sensitive repository; require a human to approve edits, commits and external actions. Cline's Desktop announcement describes schedules and Marketplace extensions, but their actual permissions depend on your setup.

JQ AI Systems: A 20-Minute First Comparison

Here is the setup I recommend for a fair first trial. Use a disposable internal app, record its baseline tests, and pick one small screen improvement. Run the same brief in two isolated sessions, such as Kimi K3.1 Pro via Moonshot API and DeepSeek V4.1 Flash via DeepSeek API. Compare the resulting diffs, not just the answers: did each model preserve the app's conventions, pass tests, explain trade-offs and stay within scope? Record both API cost and human correction time. This is an editorial test plan, not a claim that we independently ran ByteGrad's benchmark.

Tools and Official Sources by Role

Video Chapters

Source Note and Limits

Checked 1 November 2026. The ByteGrad video and supplied transcript establish what the presenter demonstrates. We checked install and provider steps against Cline's install guide, authorization guide and compatible-provider guide; model names against ClinePass, Moonshot and DeepSeek; and the V4 Pro correction against DeepSeek's changelog. We did not install Cline, enter paid API keys, reproduce the video edit, verify its model routing internally or benchmark the models. Recheck beta features, model availability, rates and connector permissions in your own account before relying on them.