Aider AI Coding Assistant

Configure and use Aider, an AI pair programming tool that integrates with your git repository to make intelligent, coordinated code changes across multiple files.

What This Skill Does

This skill helps you configure and effectively use Aider, an AI-powered coding assistant that:

Configuration

Model Settings

1. **API Keys**: Store all API keys in a `.env` or `.env.local` file

2. **Model Selection**: Use `--model` flag or set in config to choose your LLM

3. **Model Metadata**: Optionally specify custom model settings files for unknown models

4. **SSL Verification**: Keep `verify-ssl: true` for secure API connections

Repository Map Settings

1. **Map Tokens**: Control context size with `--map-tokens` (0 to disable)

2. **Refresh Strategy**: Set `map-refresh` to auto, always, files, or manual

3. **Repository Understanding**: Aider builds a map of your codebase for better context

Git Integration

1. **Auto-commits**: Set `auto-commits: false` to manually review changes before committing

2. **Dirty Commits**: Configure whether to commit when repo has pending changes

3. **Commit Attribution**: Use `attribute-commit-message-author` or `attribute-co-authored-by` for proper attribution

4. **Gitignore**: Automatically adds `.aider*` files to `.gitignore`

5. **Pre-commit Hooks**: Control with `git-commit-verify` setting

Output Customization

1. **Color Scheme**: Configure colors for different output types (user input, assistant output, errors, warnings)

2. **Code Theme**: Set markdown code highlighting (e.g., `gruvbox-dark`, `monokai`, `solarized-dark`)

3. **Streaming**: Enable/disable streaming responses with `stream` setting

4. **Dark/Light Mode**: Choose color scheme appropriate for your terminal

Quality Assurance

1. **Linting**: Configure `lint-cmd` for different languages

2. **Auto-lint**: Set `auto-lint: true` to automatically lint after changes

3. **Testing**: Specify `test-cmd` and enable `auto-test` for automatic testing

4. **Pre-commit Verification**: Keep hooks enabled with `git-commit-verify: true`

Usage Instructions

Starting Aider

```bash

Start with specific files

aider file1.py file2.js

Start with read-only context files

aider --read AGENTS.md --file src/main.py

Use specific model

aider --model claude-sonnet-4.5

Apply changes from clipboard

aider --apply-clipboard-edits

```

Interactive Commands

1. **/add <file>**: Add files to the chat context

2. **/drop <file>**: Remove files from context

3. **/read <file>**: Add read-only reference files

4. **/commit**: Commit all pending changes with AI-generated message

5. **/undo**: Undo last changes

6. **/diff**: Show pending changes

7. **/lint**: Run linting on modified files

8. **/test**: Run tests

9. **/editor**: Open in external editor

10. **/help**: Show all available commands

Best Practices

1. **Start Small**: Begin with 1-3 related files for focused changes

2. **Use Read-Only Context**: Add architecture docs or READMEs with `--read` for context

3. **Review Before Committing**: Set `auto-commits: false` to manually review changes

4. **Enable Linting**: Configure `lint-cmd` for your languages to maintain code quality

5. **Watch Files**: Enable `watch-files: true` to detect AI coding comments in your IDE

6. **Leverage Repository Map**: Let Aider understand your codebase structure automatically

7. **Use Specific Requests**: Be clear and specific in your coding requests

8. **Iterative Refinement**: Review changes and ask for refinements if needed

File Watching

When `watch-files: true`:

1. Add special comments in your code: `# aider: <instruction>`

2. Aider detects these comments and processes them automatically

3. Useful for marking TODOs or improvements while coding

Configuration File

Create `.aider.conf.yml` in your project root or home directory with your preferences. Key settings to customize:

```yaml

Essential settings

auto-commits: false # Review before committing

auto-lint: true # Automatic linting

git: true # Enable git integration

stream: true # Stream responses

Editor and encoding

editor: nvim

encoding: utf-8

env-file: .env.local

Read-only context files

read:

- AGENTS.md

- README.md

- ARCHITECTURE.md

```

Examples

Example 1: Refactoring with Context

```bash

Start with files to refactor and architecture docs for context

aider --read ARCHITECTURE.md --file src/auth.py src/middleware.py

In chat: "Refactor authentication to use middleware pattern described in ARCHITECTURE.md"

```

Example 2: Bug Fix with Tests

```bash

Configure testing

aider --test-cmd "pytest tests/" --auto-test --file src/payment.py tests/test_payment.py

In chat: "Fix the bug in calculate_total where discounts aren't applied correctly"

Aider will make changes and automatically run tests

```

Example 3: Feature Implementation

```bash

Start with related files

aider src/api/users.py src/models/user.py src/schemas/user.py

In chat: "Add email verification field to User model and update API endpoints"

Review changes with /diff

Commit with /commit or let auto-commit handle it

```

Important Notes