Cline is an autonomous AI agent that runs inside VS Code. Terminal commands, file edits, and — this is the big one — browser-use integration that lets it navigate actual web pages. That combination is why we're so excited about it for AgentCard. Cline can create a card via the CLI, then open a browser and fill out a real checkout form. Most agents can't do that second part.
Here's the setup.
What you need
- VS Code with the Cline extension installed
- Node.js 18+ for the AgentCard CLI
- A payment method (credit card, debit card, or USDC)
- Browser-use enabled in Cline settings (for visual checkout)
How Cline makes purchases
Two modes, both relevant. Terminal mode runs shell commands — that's where the AgentCard CLI lives. Browser-use mode navigates web pages, fills forms, clicks buttons. Put them together and Cline can:
- Run the AgentCard CLI to create a virtual card
- Retrieve card details (number, CVV, expiry, billing address)
- Open a merchant's website in the browser
- Navigate to checkout and fill in card details
- Complete the purchase
Step 1: Install the AgentCard CLI
Open your VS Code terminal and install:
npm install -g agentcard
Or just tell Cline to do it. It runs terminal commands directly.
Step 2: Sign up
Run this yourself or let Cline do it:
agentcard signup --email you@example.com
Magic link in your email. Click it. Done.
Step 3: Ask Cline to create a card and make a purchase
This is where Cline really shines. One instruction in the chat panel:
"Create a $25 AgentCard virtual card, then go to Namecheap and buy the domain mycoolproject.dev"
Cline will:
- Run
agentcard create --amount 25in the terminal - Open the Stripe Checkout link for your payment
- Run
agentcard details <card-id>to retrieve card credentials - Open a browser to Namecheap using browser-use
- Search for the domain and add it to cart
- Fill in card details at checkout
- Complete the purchase
Browser-use: why Cline is different
Look, most coding agents stop at the terminal. That's fine for API purchases, but a lot of merchants don't have billing APIs. They have checkout pages. Cline's browser-use integration is what makes it special here — it actually sees web pages, reads form labels, fills in fields, and clicks through multi-step checkouts like a person would.
We've tested this with a bunch of merchants. It works especially well for:
- SaaS subscriptions — sign up for Figma, Vercel, or any tool with a web checkout
- Domain purchases — buy domains on Namecheap, Cloudflare, or Google Domains
- API credits — top up OpenAI, Anthropic, or other API accounts
- Developer tools — purchase licenses or credits for paid dev tools
Terminal-only mode
Not everyone wants to enable browser-use, and that's fine. Cline still works great for programmatic purchases in the terminal. Plenty of services accept payment via API or CLI. Just ask Cline to create a card and use the details in an API call or curl command.
Security tips
Browser access makes this more powerful, but it also means you should be more careful. We designed AgentCard with this exact scenario in mind.
- Use exact amounts — load just enough for the purchase. A $15 card for a $12 buy.
- One card per task — fresh card every time. No exceptions.
- Check the balance after —
agentcard balance <card-id>tells you exactly what got charged - Approve each step — Cline asks permission before running commands. Use that.
Your personal payment info never touches the merchant. The virtual card is the only thing exposed, and it has a hard spending cap equal to its balance.
Get started
npm install -g agentcard
agentcard signup --email you@example.com
Then in Cline:
"Create a $25 AgentCard and buy me [whatever you need]."
Cline does the rest — terminal and browser, right from your editor.