Aider Configuration for Claude Sonnet

This skill provides a production-ready Aider configuration file optimized for Claude 3.5 Sonnet with performance and usability enhancements.

Features

Installation

1. Copy this configuration to `.aider.conf.yml` in your project root:

```yaml

#######

Main:

Use claude-3-5-sonnet-20240620 model for the main chat

sonnet: true

#################

Cache Settings:

Enable caching of prompts (default: False)

cache-prompts: true

##################

Output Settings:

Use colors suitable for a dark terminal background (default: False)

dark-mode: true

Use colors suitable for a light terminal background (default: False)

#light-mode: false

Enable/disable pretty, colorized output (default: True)

#pretty: true

Enable/disable streaming responses (default: True)

stream: false

specify a read-only file (can be used multiple times)

#read: xxx

Specify multiple values like this:

read:

- .cursorrules

Use VI editing mode in the terminal (default: False)

vim: true

```

2. Ensure you have an Anthropic API key set:

```bash

export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=your_key_here

```

3. Launch Aider from your project directory:

```bash

aider

```

Configuration Options Explained

Model Selection

Performance

Terminal Experience

Context Files

Customization

Add More Context Files

To include additional read-only context (documentation, specs, etc.):

```yaml

read:

- .cursorrules

- docs/architecture.md

- CONTRIBUTING.md

```

Enable Streaming

For interactive sessions, you may prefer streaming responses:

```yaml

stream: true

```

Switch to Light Mode

If using a light terminal background:

```yaml

dark-mode: false

light-mode: true

```

Best Practices

1. **Create per-project configs**: Place `.aider.conf.yml` in each repository root for project-specific settings

2. **Version control**: Commit this file to share team-wide Aider settings

3. **Use .cursorrules**: Define project conventions in `.cursorrules` so Aider respects your coding standards

4. **Monitor caching**: Prompt caching significantly reduces costs for repeated context

Constraints