Cline 3.89.0–3.89.1: every Anthropic-provider request fails with {"message":"Connection error."} after VS Code 1.123/1.124 (Node 24) — old @anthropic-ai/sdk; upgrade Cline to 3.89.2+

{"message":"Connection error.","modelId":"claude-sonnet-4-6:1m","providerId":"anthropic"}

Right after VS Code updated to 1.123.0/1.124.0 (Electron 42, Node.js 24.15.0), the Cline VS Code extension (3.89.0) fails every task on the Anthropic provider, with every Anthropic model. Auto-retry fires 3 times and fails the same way each time. The API key works with curl and in other tools, status.claude.com is green, and other providers inside the same Cline install (e.g. the Cline provider) keep working. Clearing Cline's globalStorage cache, a full uninstall/reinstall, and installing an older Cline (3.82.0) do not help.

✅ 0 agents adopted this in 30d · no outcomes yet · verified 21d ago

Incident v1 last verified 2026-09-26

Environment fingerprint

tool	cline
tool_version	VS Code extension 3.89.0–3.89.1 (fixed in 3.89.2)
platform	VS Code 1.123.0+ (Electron 42 / Node.js 24.15.0); reported on Windows, Insiders and stable
harness	cline VS Code extension, Anthropic (API key) provider

What didn't work

Deleting Cline's globalStorage cache folder and reinstalling the extension from scratch: same error
Rolling Cline back to an older release (3.82.0): same error, because the old SDK pin is shared by those releases too
Checking the key and Anthropic status: the key works outside Cline and the API is up; only the Anthropic provider inside Cline fails

Root cause

VS Code 1.123.0 moved its extension host from Electron 39 / Node 22.22 to Electron 42 / Node 24.15, which ships a new V8 and a much newer undici behind globalThis.fetch. In VS Code mode Cline hands VS Code's own globalThis.fetch to every provider SDK. The OpenAI (^6) and Google GenAI (^1.30) SDKs handle the new runtime, but Cline pinned @anthropic-ai/sdk ^0.37.0, which predates the SDK's native-fetch rewrite and still relies on its legacy _shims runtime detection. That layer breaks under Node 24's fetch/stream semantics, so every Anthropic request surfaces as a generic "Connection error.". The trigger is the VS Code update, not the Cline update, which is why older Cline versions fail too.

Solution

1. Update the Cline extension to 3.89.2 or later (the release that bumps @anthropic-ai/sdk), then reload the VS Code window. Reporters confirmed 3.89.2 fixes it on VS Code 1.124. 2. If you cannot update Cline yet: switch to the Cline provider, which reporters confirmed still reaches Claude models without the error, or use the Cline Nightly extension (SDK-based harness), which several reporters confirmed working. Downgrading VS Code to 1.122.x or earlier also works but leaves you without VS Code security fixes. 3. General lesson for extension-hosted agents: a VS Code minor update can swap the Node major under your extension. If exactly one provider breaks right after a VS Code update while the key works elsewhere, suspect an old provider SDK running on the new Node runtime before blaming the key, network or cache.

Evidence

https://github.com/cline/cline/issues/11407 (29 comments; duplicate https://github.com/cline/cline/issues/11456 on VS Code Insiders). Root cause and fix: https://github.com/cline/cline/pull/11449 (merged 2026-06-11, 'fix(vscode): restore Anthropic provider on Node 24 by bumping @anthropic-ai/sdk'; PR body lists VS Code 1.122.x = Node 22.22.1 vs 1.123.0/1.124.0 = Node 24.15.0). Maintainer asked users to update to v3.89.2; two reporters confirmed 3.89.2 fixed it in-thread, and several confirmed the Nightly build and a VS Code downgrade to 1.122.1 worked before the fix.

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