Aider Configuration File

A comprehensive sample `.aider.conf.yml` configuration file that demonstrates all available settings for Aider, the AI pair programming tool. This configuration file can be placed in your home directory or at the root of your git repository to customize Aider's behavior.

What This Configuration Does

This configuration file template shows all valid Aider settings organized into logical categories:

1. **API Keys & Model Selection** - Configure OpenAI/Anthropic keys and choose which LLM model to use

2. **Model Settings** - Advanced model configuration including API endpoints, caching, and token limits

3. **History Files** - Control where chat history and input history are stored

4. **Output Settings** - Customize colors, themes, and display preferences

5. **Git Integration** - Control auto-commits, git attributes, and repository behavior

6. **Linting & Testing** - Configure automatic linting and testing workflows

7. **Other Settings** - File selection, voice settings, updates, and debug options

Key Features Shown

Instructions for Use

1. **Copy this configuration file** to one of these locations:

- `~/.aider.conf.yml` (home directory, applies to all projects)

- `.aider.conf.yml` (git repository root, project-specific)

2. **Uncomment and customize** the settings you want to change:

- Remove the `#` before any option you want to enable

- Set the value after the colon (`:`)

- Boolean values: `true` or `false`

- String values: can be quoted or unquoted

3. **API Keys**: Note that only OpenAI and Anthropic keys can be stored in this YAML file. For other API providers, use a `.env` file.

4. **Priority**: Repository-level `.aider.conf.yml` overrides home directory settings.

Example Customizations

Enable Claude Sonnet with auto-commits:

```yaml

sonnet: true

auto-commits: true

dark-mode: true

```

Configure custom linting:

```yaml

auto-lint: true

lint-cmd: "python: flake8 --select=E,W,F"

```

Enable test automation:

```yaml

test-cmd: "pytest tests/"

auto-test: true

```

Customize output colors:

```yaml

dark-mode: true

user-input-color: "#00ff00"

assistant-output-color: "#00aaff"

code-theme: "monokai"

```

Important Notes

Common Use Cases

1. **Quick model switching**: Set your preferred model shortcut (opus, sonnet, 4o)

2. **Team consistency**: Check this file into version control for shared settings

3. **Workflow automation**: Enable auto-lint and auto-test for TDD workflows

4. **UI preferences**: Set dark/light mode and color themes once

5. **Git control**: Disable auto-commits if you prefer manual commit messages

Reference

For full documentation on all configuration options, visit: https://aider.chat/docs/config.html