# Image CDN for Cline — AuraImage (https://auraimage.ai/cline)

Add AuraImage to Cline via ~/.cline/mcp.json or the cline mcp wizard. Cline does not document env var expansion in MCP config, so export your key in the shell — here is the safe setup.

## Add AuraImage to Cline

### Config file — `~/.cline/mcp.json`

> The Cline CLI reads `~/.cline/mcp.json`; the VS Code extension keeps the same JSON in `cline_mcp_settings.json`, which you open from the Cline panel: MCP Servers icon → Configure → Configure MCP Servers. Cline does not document environment-variable expansion in this JSON, so leave the value blank and put `AURA_SECRET_KEY` in the environment of whichever process you start, editor or CLI.

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "auraimage": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@auraimage/mcp-server@latest"],
      "env": {
        "AURA_SECRET_KEY": ""
      },
      "disabled": false,
      "autoApprove": []
    }
  }
}
```

Or from the terminal:

```bash
cline mcp
```

Verified against https://docs.cline.bot/mcp/mcp-overview on 2026-08-09.

## Optimize images with Cline

- "Audit this project for image LCP problems — report only, do not change anything yet." → `audit_lcp`
- "Migrate everything under assets/ to AuraImage, and show me the diff before you write it." → `migrate_assets`
- "Write alt text for the images in this folder, following the tone I set in .clinerules/." → `generate_alt`
- "Swap this <img> for a responsive AuraImage tag and leave the original commented out." → `generate_responsive_tag`
- "Show me thumbnail crops of every image in this folder — walk me through them one at a time so I can approve each call." → `smart_crop_preview`

## Project conventions

`.clinerules/` — Cline reads a `.clinerules/` directory of `.md` and `.txt` files at the repo root, so image conventions can live in their own file instead of one long document.

## FAQ

### Why is the key an empty string in the snippet?

Because Cline does not document environment-variable expansion in `mcp.json`, so a `${AURA_SECRET_KEY}` here is not documented to resolve to anything. Leave the value empty and export `AURA_SECRET_KEY` in the shell that launches your editor, so the credential lives in your environment rather than in a JSON file.

### What do `disabled` and `autoApprove` do?

Both ship in every config example Cline documents. `disabled` is the flag behind the wizard action the docs describe as toggling a server without deleting it — how you park this one while debugging. On `autoApprove` the docs give one instruction, "Limit `autoApprove` to safe tools", next to "Review tool calls before approval". An empty array is the conservative reading of that: nothing is pre-approved, so every AuraImage call comes back to you first.

## Links

- All agents: https://auraimage.ai/skills
- AI integration: https://auraimage.ai/docs/ai-integration.md
- Getting started: https://auraimage.ai/docs/getting-started.md