Aider Configuration

This skill provides a comprehensive configuration template for Aider, an AI coding assistant that can work with multiple codebases simultaneously. It supports various LLM providers (OpenAI, Anthropic, DeepSeek, etc.), git integration, code editing, and advanced features like repo mapping and voice input.

What This Does

Sets up a complete `.aider.conf.yml` configuration file with all available Aider options, including:

Instructions

When a user requests Aider configuration:

1. **Assess Requirements**

- Ask which LLM provider they're using (OpenAI, Anthropic, DeepSeek, etc.)

- Determine if they need git integration enabled

- Check if they want auto-commits, linting, or testing enabled

- Ask about UI preferences (dark mode, colors, fancy input)

2. **Create Configuration File**

- Generate `.aider.conf.yml` in the git repository root or home directory

- Include only the settings relevant to their needs (don't include all commented options)

- Set appropriate model selection (opus, sonnet, 4o, deepseek, etc.)

- Configure API keys (remind them to use .env file for non-OpenAI/Anthropic keys)

3. **Configure Key Settings**

**Model Selection:**

```yaml

# Use one of these based on provider:

model: gpt-4o # OpenAI

sonnet: true # Claude 3.5 Sonnet

deepseek: true # DeepSeek

```

**Git Integration:**

```yaml

git: true

auto-commits: true

dirty-commits: true

attribute-author: true

```

**Code Editing:**

```yaml

edit-format: xxx # architect, diff, whole, etc.

map-tokens: 1024 # Repo map size

```

**Linting/Testing:**

```yaml

auto-lint: true

lint-cmd:

- "python: ruff check"

- "javascript: eslint"

test-cmd: pytest

auto-test: false

```

4. **Set Up API Keys**

- For OpenAI/Anthropic: Can use yaml config or .env

- For other providers: Must use .env file

- Create `.env` file in git root:

```

PROVIDER_API_KEY=your_key_here

```

5. **Customize UI (Optional)**

```yaml

dark-mode: true

pretty: true

stream: true

user-input-color: "#00cc00"

assistant-output-color: "#0088ff"

code-theme: monokai

```

6. **Configure Advanced Features**

**Multi-codebase support:**

```yaml

file:

- /path/to/repo1/file.py

- /path/to/repo2/file.js

read:

- /path/to/docs/reference.md

```

**Voice input:**

```yaml

voice-format: wav

voice-language: en

```

**Analytics:**

```yaml

analytics: false # Disable tracking

analytics-disable: true # Permanently disable

```

7. **Create .aiderignore (Optional)**

- Similar to .gitignore

- Exclude files/directories from Aider's context

```

node_modules/

*.log

.env

```

8. **Test Configuration**

- Run `aider --config .aider.conf.yml` to verify

- Check that model connects successfully

- Verify git integration if enabled

Example Configurations

**Minimal (Claude Sonnet):**

```yaml

sonnet: true

anthropic-api-key: sk-ant-xxx

git: true

auto-commits: true

dark-mode: true

```

**Full-featured (GPT-4o with linting):**

```yaml

model: gpt-4o

openai-api-key: sk-xxx

git: true

auto-commits: true

auto-lint: true

lint-cmd:

- "python: ruff check --fix"

- "typescript: eslint --fix"

map-tokens: 2048

dark-mode: true

pretty: true

stream: true

```

**Multi-model setup:**

```yaml

model: gpt-4o # Main model

weak-model: gpt-4o-mini # For summaries

editor-model: claude-3-5-sonnet-20241022 # For edits

cache-prompts: true

map-tokens: 2048

```

Important Notes

Constraints