Cline: Shell Integration Unavailable

What it means

Cline runs commands through VS Code's Terminal Shell Integration API (added in VS Code 1.93). When shell integration is not active in the terminal, Cline cannot read the output of the commands it runs, so it cannot react to results on its own.

Causes

• Outdated VS Code or Cursor that lacks the Terminal Shell Integration API (VS Code 1.93+), per the official wiki.
• Default terminal profile is not a supported shell (zsh, bash, fish, or PowerShell).
• On Windows, PowerShell older than v7 or a Restricted/AllSigned execution policy, per the wiki.
• Terminal customizations such as Powerlevel10k, Oh My Zsh or fish themes interfering, per the wiki.
• On Windows with OneDrive, the Desktop path differs from C:\Users\<user>\Desktop, per the wiki.

How to fix it

1. 1
   Fix 1.

   Update VS Code (Command Palette > "Check for Updates") or Cursor ("Attempt Update"), then restart the editor.

2. 2
   Fix 2.

   Set a supported default shell: Command Palette > "Terminal: Select Default Profile" and pick zsh, bash, fish, or PowerShell. Quit VS Code completely, reopen it, and start a new Cline task.

3. 3
   Fix 3.

   On Windows, the wiki recommends Git Bash as the default profile, or PowerShell v7+. Check the version and, if needed, set the execution policy for the current user.

   Snippet

   Copy

   $PSVersionTable.PSVersion
   Get-ExecutionPolicy
   Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -Scope CurrentUser

4. 4
   Fix 4.

   Manually install shell integration. For zsh add this line to ~/.zshrc (open it with code ~/.zshrc):

   Snippet

   Copy

   [[ "$TERM_PROGRAM" == "vscode" ]] && . "$(code --locate-shell-integration-path zsh)"

5. 5
   Fix 5.

   For PowerShell, run code $Profile and add:

   Snippet

   Copy

   if ($env:TERM_PROGRAM -eq "vscode") { . "$(code --locate-shell-integration-path pwsh)" }

6. 6
   Fix 6.

   Temporarily disable Powerlevel10k, Oh My Zsh or fish themes in your shell config to rule them out.

   Terminal

   Copy

   # source /path/to/powerlevel10k/powerlevel10k.zsh-theme

7. 7
   Fix 7.

   OneDrive users on Windows: create a junction from the expected Desktop path to the OneDrive Desktop in an admin Command Prompt, then restart VS Code.

   Snippet

   Copy

   mklink /J "C:\Users\<username>\Desktop" "C:\Users\<username>\OneDrive\Desktop

8. 8
   Fix 8.

   After repeated failures the extension itself recommends switching to Background Terminal mode ("Enable Background Terminal (Recommended)"), which does not depend on shell integration.