Aider AI Coding Assistant

A comprehensive skill for configuring and using Aider, an AI pair programming tool that can edit code directly in your repository, make git commits, run tests, and more.

What This Skill Does

This skill helps you set up and use Aider with optimal configurations for AI-assisted coding. Aider is a command-line tool that allows you to chat with an AI to edit code across multiple files, automatically commit changes, run tests, and maintain context about your entire codebase through intelligent repo mapping.

Configuration

Aider can be configured via `.aider.conf.yml` in your home directory or git repository root. Key configuration areas include:

Model Selection

API Configuration

Editing Behavior

Git Integration

Code Quality

User Experience

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Initial Setup

When helping users set up Aider:

1. Check if `.aider.conf.yml` exists in their project or home directory

2. Create a configuration file with essential settings:

- Enable dark-mode for better visibility

- Set appropriate code-theme (e.g., one-dark, monokai)

- Configure auto-commits and auto-lint based on project needs

- Set up gitignore for aider files

2. Model Configuration

Guide users to select appropriate models:

1. For main chat, recommend Claude Sonnet or GPT-4 for best results

2. Configure a weaker-model for commit messages to save costs

3. Set up editor-model if specialized editing tasks are needed

4. Add model aliases for frequently used models

3. Git Workflow Setup

Configure git integration:

1. Ensure auto-commits is enabled for automatic change tracking

2. Set attribute-author and attribute-committer for proper attribution

3. Configure commit-prompt if custom commit message style is needed

4. Set up aiderignore file to exclude unwanted files from context

4. Code Quality Integration

Set up automated quality checks:

1. Configure lint-cmd for each language in the project

2. Enable auto-lint to catch issues immediately

3. Set up test-cmd for running test suites

4. Consider enabling auto-test for critical projects

5. Daily Usage

When using Aider for coding tasks:

1. Start aider with files to edit: `aider file1.py file2.js`

2. Add read-only files for context: use `--read` flag

3. Use natural language to describe changes

4. Review diffs before accepting changes

5. Let aider auto-commit or use `/commit` manually

6. Run `/test` or `/lint` to verify changes

6. Advanced Features

Help users leverage advanced capabilities:

1. Use `/architect` for large refactoring tasks

2. Enable watch-files to trigger coding from code comments

3. Use message-file mode for batch operations

4. Configure cache-prompts for faster repeated operations

5. Set up voice input for hands-free coding

7. Repository Mapping

Optimize repo map for better AI context:

1. Set map-tokens based on codebase size (default is usually good)

2. Use map-refresh: auto for dynamic updates

3. Adjust map-multiplier-no-files for better whole-repo understanding

4. Use /map command to view current repo map

8. Troubleshooting

Common issues and solutions:

1. If AI makes incorrect changes, try architect mode

2. For slow responses, reduce map-tokens or disable cache-prompts

3. If commits fail, check git-commit-verify setting

4. For model errors, verify API keys and model names

Example Configurations

Minimal Setup

```yaml

dark-mode: true

code-theme: one-dark

auto-commits: true

auto-lint: true

```

Full-Featured Setup

```yaml

UI

dark-mode: true

code-theme: one-dark

stream: true

Git

auto-commits: true

auto-lint: true

attribute-author: true

attribute-committer: true

Models

model: anthropic/claude-3-7-sonnet-20250219

weak-model: anthropic/claude-3-5-haiku-20241022

Quality

lint-cmd:

- "python: ruff check"

- "javascript: eslint"

auto-test: false

test-cmd: "pytest"

Performance

cache-prompts: true

map-tokens: 2048

```

Important Notes

Constraints