Cline connects with a plain Nevermined API key, not the OAuth “approve a spending cap” flow that some assistants (Claude, ChatGPT) use. The key is your credential — it spends whatever its Nevermined account funds, so you set the budget on your account, not in Cline.
Before you connect
1
A Nevermined account
Free, at nevermined.app.
2
A Nevermined API key
Create a plain API key in the app — Settings → Global NVM API Keys — for the environment you want, and send the whole string, prefix included (
sandbox:… or live:…). A key minted by an OAuth flow can’t pay through the Router’s delegation routes, so use a plain one. See Get a Nevermined API key.3
A way to pay
The key spends from one of two budgets you set up once: a Nevermined Subscription whose monthly credits a plain key can spend, or a spending delegation — a capped, revocable budget funded from your own wallet (Using the Catalog from a harness walks through it). Discovery is free and needs neither.
Start on sandbox, where you use testnet funds and nothing costs real money, before you point Cline at live.
Add the Catalog to Cline
1
Open the Remote Servers tab
Click the MCP Servers icon in Cline’s toolbar, open the Remote Servers tab, and give the server a name (e.g.
nevermined-catalog).2
Point it at the server
Paste the URL for the environment you want and set Transport Type to Streamable HTTP:
3
Add your API key as a header
Cline stores servers in
cline_mcp_settings.json. Add your Nevermined API key as an Authorization header — edit it in the Configure MCP Servers JSON:Your Nevermined API key
That key is your credential — there is no separate consent screen to approve. Paste it in place of<your Nevermined API key> and keep the prefix: a live: key for mcp.live, a sandbox: key for mcp.sandbox.
The key spends whatever its account funds — your Subscription credits, or a spending delegation funded from your wallet — so the budget and the audit trail live on your Nevermined account, not in Cline. Treat it like a password: never commit it or paste it into a shared chat. Every way to mint one: Get a Nevermined API key.
Make your first paid call
Ask for something only live data can answer, and name the server so Cline reaches for it rather than answering from memory.1
Browse for free
In Cline’s chat, ask “list the Nevermined catalog categories” — a free tool call, no payment.
2
Ask it to buy
“Buy the service with slug
<slug> through the Nevermined server and show me the response.” The paid call draws on your subscription credits or delegation and returns the merchant’s response.Disconnect or rotate the key
- Stop the credential (Nevermined side). The key is the credential, so to cut Cline off, rotate or delete the key in the app (Settings → Global NVM API Keys) — every call with the old key then fails. To cap spending without revoking the key, revoke the delegation it spends from in Payment methods; discovery still works.
- Remove the server (Cline side). In the MCP Servers panel delete the Nevermined server, or remove its block from
cline_mcp_settings.json.
Next
Using the Catalog from a harness
The full plain-key playbook — discovery, delegations, and the safety rules.
Catalog MCP — full reference
Every tool, the API-key header, and every refusal code.