Supercharging Cline with Requesty: Models, Fallbacks, and Optimizations

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22S9MTpNm9U&t=39s

Cline is a powerful coding assistant that helps you write and refactor code faster. But what if you could instantly tap into 150+ LLMs—like Deepseek-R1, Claude-sonnet-3-7, Openai 4.5, Qwen QWQ, Groq, Grok 3, and more—without juggling multiple API keys or endpoints? That’s where Requesty comes in. In this post, we’ll demonstrate how to set up Cline with Requesty, choose fallback models automatically, and optimize your token usage for cost savings.

Table of Contents

1. Why Use Requesty with Cline?

2. Getting Started

3. Creating Your API Key

4. Exploring Model Options & Usage Stats

5. Fallback Strategies & Policies

6. Feature Spotlight: Caching & System Prompt Optimization

7. Putting It All Together

1. Why Use Requesty with Cline?

• Access 150+ Models

  : Easily switch between GPT, Claude, DeepSeek, Nebius, and other specialized models—right within Cline.

• Fallback Safety

  : If one provider fails or times out, your request seamlessly reroutes to an alternate model.

• Unified Usage View

  : Track all your tokens and costs in one place, instead of flipping between multiple provider dashboards.

• Optimizations

  : Reduce input tokens and system tokens automatically, helping you cut costs while improving performance.

2. Getting Started

1. Sign up for Requesty

   Go to app.requesty.ai/sign-up and create your free account.

2. Open Cline Settings

   • In Cline, click on the

     Settings

     button.

   • Look for the

     API Provider

     dropdown and select

     Requesty

     .

3. Copy Your API Key

   We’ll generate this in the next step—then we’ll paste it into Cline so it can talk to Requesty directly.

3. Creating Your API Key

After signing up and logging in to Requesty, you’ll see the main dashboard or an onboarding screen. Follow these steps:

1. Go to “Router” → “Manage API Keys.”

   You can name your key something like cline-test.

2. Copy the API Key.

   You might see a note like, “Don’t worry, you can delete or reset your key later.” That’s fine—just copy it.

3. Paste the Key into Cline Settings.

   In the Cline configuration screen, there’s a field to enter your new Requesty API key. Paste it there and save.

That’s it! You’re now fully connected to Requesty. Any time you ask Cline for coding help, your requests will be routed through Requesty.

4. Exploring Model Options & Usage Stats

Once you’ve linked Cline to Requesty, you can:

1. Click “See Models.”

   • Access a library of

     153+ models

     (and counting!) for various use cases, from general chat to coding or specialized tasks.

   • Filter by provider, category, or price range.

2. Usage Insights:

   • The dashboard displays real-time token usage, cost, and even caching info. For example, if you just asked Cline to “write a Python Snake game,” you’ll see how many tokens the request consumed.

   • You can observe trends like “front-end tasks often use Claude” or “back-end tasks rely on deeper reasoning.” These insights help you pick the best model for the job.

3. Context Window Monitoring:

   • Keep an eye on how many tokens are used in each request—both input tokens (the prompt) and output tokens (the generated response).

5. Fallback Strategies & Policies

One of Requesty’s biggest superpowers is automatic fallback. If your primary provider struggles, you don’t want your request to fail! Instead, you can:

1. Go to “Manage API Keys”

   and click

   “Add a Policy.”

2. Choose a Fallback Order.

   • For example, you might set

     DeepSeek

     as your cheapest first option, then

     Nebius

     as your second. That way, if DeepSeek is slow or returns an error, you’ll instantly try Nebius next.

3. Copy the Policy

   and

   Paste

   the snippet into your Cline settings (under your API key or advanced config).

Now, if your main model is offline or times out, Cline seamlessly reroutes to the second or third model. You stay focused on coding, not debugging AI downtime.

6. Feature Spotlight: Caching & System Prompt Optimization

Caching

• Automatic Caching

  helps cut costs and speed up repeated requests. If you’re asking the same or very similar prompts (“Generate a Snake game” for multiple variations), you can benefit from Requesty’s built-in caching layer.

System Prompt Optimization

• System Prompt Optimization

  detects big system prompts and trims unnecessary tokens.

• In real-world tests, we reduced an initial 12,800 token request down to ~8,800 tokens—helping you save money while ensuring your prompt is still effective.

• To enable these features, open the

  “Features”

  panel in the Requesty dashboard. Toggle options like

  “Optimize System Tokens”

  or

  “Disable MCPU”

  (if you’re not using certain advanced capabilities).

7. Putting It All Together

With Cline set to Requesty as its API provider, you’re free to:

1. Pick Any Model

   : GPT-4 for big reasoning, Claude for chatty back-and-forth, or specialized open-source models.

2. Monitor Usage

   : Check tokens, cost, caching effectiveness, and more in real time on the Requesty dashboard.

3. Peace of Mind with Fallbacks

   : Never worry about one provider’s downtime again—let Requesty’s fallback policy handle it.

4. Save on Costs

   : Caching and system prompt optimization can significantly lower your monthly bills.

Ready to give it a try?

• Sign up (if you haven’t yet) at app.requesty.ai.

• Grab your API key and paste it into

  Cline

  .

• Enjoy seamless, optimized coding completions from the LLM(s) of your choice!

If you run into questions or want more tips, join our Discord or visit our Documentation. We’re excited to see what you’ll build with Cline + Requesty—and we’re here to help you make it all run smoothly.

Final Thoughts

Building a reliable, cost-effective AI coding workflow shouldn’t be a hassle. By connecting Cline to Requesty, you get a simple, powerful setup that automatically chooses the best model, manages fallback strategies, and keeps you informed about your usage. Happy coding—and happy optimizing!