Aider AI Pair Programmer

An AI-powered pair programming assistant that integrates directly with your git repository to make intelligent code changes. Aider supports multiple AI models, automatic git commits, code refactoring, and conversational coding workflows.

What This Skill Does

This skill helps you configure and use Aider effectively for AI-assisted coding. Aider runs in your terminal, understands your codebase through repository maps, makes direct edits to files, and automatically commits changes with meaningful messages. It supports major AI providers (OpenAI, Anthropic, etc.) and offers advanced features like architect mode, automatic linting, testing, and voice input.

Instructions

1. Installation and Setup

First, ensure Aider is installed:

2. Configuration File Structure

Create a `.aider.conf.yml` file in either:

The configuration file uses YAML format. Only include settings you want to customize.

3. Essential Configuration Sections

**API Keys** (store in config or .env file):

```yaml

For OpenAI models

openai-api-key: your-key-here

For Anthropic models (Claude)

anthropic-api-key: your-key-here

For other providers, use set-env or api-key options

```

**Main Model Selection**:

```yaml

Specify which model to use for primary coding tasks

model: claude-3-7-sonnet-20250219

or

model: gpt-4o

or any other supported model

```

**Edit Format** (controls how AI makes changes):

```yaml

Options: diff, whole, udiff, architect, editor-diff, editor-whole

edit-format: diff # Most reliable for most models

architect: true # Enable architect mode for complex changes

```

4. Repository Map Settings

Aider creates an intelligent map of your codebase:

```yaml

Tokens allocated to repo map (0 to disable)

map-tokens: 1024

When to refresh: auto, always, files, manual

map-refresh: auto

Multiplier when no specific files targeted

map-multiplier-no-files: 2

```

5. Git Integration

Configure automatic commits and git behavior:

```yaml

Enable git operations

git: true

Auto-commit AI changes

auto-commits: true

Allow commits when repo has uncommitted changes

dirty-commits: true

Attribution options

attribute-author: true

attribute-committer: true

attribute-co-authored-by: true

Commit message prefix

attribute-commit-message-author: false

```

6. Code Quality Features

**Automatic Linting**:

```yaml

auto-lint: true

lint-cmd:

- "python: ruff check --fix"

- "javascript: eslint --fix"

- "typescript: eslint --fix"

```

**Automatic Testing**:

```yaml

auto-test: false # Set true to run tests after changes

test-cmd: pytest # or npm test, cargo test, etc.

```

7. Multi-Model Configuration

Use different models for different tasks:

```yaml

Main coding model

model: claude-3-7-sonnet-20250219

Cheaper model for commit messages and summaries

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

Specialized editor model

editor-model: gpt-4o

editor-edit-format: editor-diff

```

8. Output and Interface Settings

```yaml

Color scheme

dark-mode: true # or light-mode: true

Enable streaming responses

stream: true

Pretty formatted output

pretty: true

Custom colors

user-input-color: "#00cc00"

assistant-output-color: "#0088ff"

code-theme: monokai # or solarized-dark, default, etc.

```

9. History and Chat Management

```yaml

Chat history file

chat-history-file: .aider.chat.history.md

Input history for command recall

input-history-file: .aider.input.history

Restore previous session

restore-chat-history: false

LLM conversation log (for debugging)

llm-history-file: .aider.llm.history

```

10. Performance Optimization

**Prompt Caching** (reduces API costs):

```yaml

cache-prompts: true

cache-keepalive-pings: 3 # Keep cache warm

```

**Chat History Management**:

```yaml

Soft limit before summarization

max-chat-history-tokens: 4096

```

11. Advanced Features

**Voice Input**:

```yaml

voice-format: wav # or webm, mp3 (requires ffmpeg)

voice-language: en

```

**Shell Commands**:

```yaml

suggest-shell-commands: true # AI suggests shell commands

```

**URL Detection**:

```yaml

detect-urls: true # Auto-detect and offer to scrape URLs

```

12. Usage Patterns

**Starting Aider**:

```bash

In a git repository

aider

With specific files

aider src/main.py tests/test_main.py

With read-only context

aider --read docs/api.md src/app.py

One-shot message mode

aider --message "Add error handling to login function"

```

**Common Commands in Aider**:

13. Best Practices

1. **Start with defaults**: Only override settings you need

2. **Use .aiderignore**: Like .gitignore, exclude files Aider shouldn't touch

3. **Enable auto-lint**: Catch issues immediately

4. **Use architect mode** for large refactoring tasks

5. **Leverage repo maps**: Let Aider understand your codebase structure

6. **Test incrementally**: Enable `--auto-test` for TDD workflows

7. **Review changes**: Use `--show-diffs` to see exactly what changed

8. **Branch protection**: Work in feature branches when making large changes

14. Security Considerations

15. Troubleshooting

**Model not working?**

**Changes not applying?**

**Performance issues?**

Example Configuration

Minimal production-ready config:

```yaml

Model

model: claude-3-7-sonnet-20250219

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

Git

auto-commits: true

dirty-commits: true

Code quality

auto-lint: true

lint-cmd:

- "python: ruff check --fix"

Interface

dark-mode: true

stream: true

pretty: true

Performance

cache-prompts: true

map-tokens: 2048

History

restore-chat-history: false

```

Notes