Cline in practice: planning and reviewing a refactor

The scenario

A developer needs to simplify part of a codebase without changing its behavior.

This is a proposed use case to investigate. The workflow has not yet been tested for this article.

The workflow to explore

1. Identify the code to refactor and the behavior to preserve.
2. Review the plan and approve the required actions.
3. Inspect the diff, run checks, and record model usage.

Evidence to collect

We’ll document the setup, inputs, output quality, time spent, costs, and human corrections. Results and screenshots will be added after testing.

Sources & lessons

Official Cline documentation and product information

Coming soon: original examples, practical limitations, and lessons from running the workflow.