Aider Configuration

Configure Aider, an AI pair programming tool, with optimal settings for your development workflow. This configuration uses Claude 3.7 Sonnet with architect mode enabled for enhanced code editing capabilities.

What This Skill Does

Sets up a comprehensive Aider configuration file (`.aider.conf.yml`) that controls:

Instructions

When a user requests Aider configuration, follow these steps:

1. **Determine configuration location**: Ask where to place the config file:

- Home directory (`~/.aider.conf.yml`) for global settings

- Git repository root (`.aider.conf.yml`) for project-specific settings

2. **Gather requirements**: Ask about key preferences:

- Which AI model to use (default: claude-3-7-sonnet-20250219)

- Whether to enable architect mode (recommended: true)

- Auto-commit behavior (default: true)

- Prompt caching (default: false, but recommended for large repos)

- Dark/light mode preference

3. **Create the configuration file** with these recommended defaults:

```yaml

# Main model

model: claude-3-7-sonnet-20250219

# Use architect mode for better edits

architect: true

# Git integration

auto-commits: true

dirty-commits: true

attribute-author: true

# Enable prompt caching for efficiency

cache-prompts: true

# Auto-lint after changes

auto-lint: true

```

4. **Customize based on user needs**:

- **For API keys**: Recommend using `.env` file instead of YAML for security

- **For multiple models**: Add weak-model and editor-model settings

- **For large repos**: Increase map-tokens (default uses model's limit)

- **For CI/CD**: Enable `--yes-always` and `--auto-test`

- **For teams**: Add consistent lint-cmd and test-cmd entries

5. **Add language-specific linting** if requested:

```yaml

lint-cmd:

- "python: ruff check"

- "javascript: eslint"

- "typescript: eslint"

```

6. **Configure test integration** if applicable:

```yaml

test-cmd: pytest

auto-test: false # Set true for TDD workflows

```

7. **Set up UI preferences** based on terminal environment:

```yaml

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

pretty: true

stream: true

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

```

8. **Add .aiderignore file** if needed:

- Create `.aiderignore` in git root

- Add patterns for files to exclude from AI context

- Common entries: `node_modules/`, `*.min.js`, `dist/`, `.env`

9. **Verify the configuration**:

- Run `aider --help` to confirm settings are recognized

- Check that API keys work if configured

- Test with a simple file edit

Important Notes

Examples

**Minimal configuration for Claude Sonnet:**

```yaml

model: claude-3-7-sonnet-20250219

architect: true

auto-commits: true

```

**Configuration for Python projects with testing:**

```yaml

model: claude-3-7-sonnet-20250219

architect: true

auto-commits: true

lint-cmd:

- "python: ruff check --fix"

test-cmd: pytest -v

auto-lint: true

auto-test: false

cache-prompts: true

```

**Configuration for team collaboration:**

```yaml

model: claude-3-7-sonnet-20250219

architect: true

auto-commits: true

attribute-author: true

attribute-committer: true

git-commit-verify: true # Run pre-commit hooks

cache-prompts: true

show-diffs: true

```

Constraints