Aider Configuration

A comprehensive configuration skill for Aider, the AI pair programming tool. This skill helps you set up and customize Aider's behavior including model selection, git integration, output formatting, caching, and workflow automation.

What This Skill Does

This skill generates a properly configured `.aider.conf.yml` file for your project or home directory. Aider uses this configuration file to control:

Instructions

When a user requests Aider configuration, follow these steps:

1. **Understand Requirements**

- Ask the user which aspects of Aider they want to configure

- Common scenarios: initial setup, model switching, git workflow customization, output preferences

- Determine if configuration should be global (~/.aider.conf.yml) or project-specific (repo root)

2. **Gather Configuration Preferences**

- **Model Selection**: Ask which AI model(s) they prefer (opus, sonnet, 4o, deepseek, etc.)

- **API Keys**: Determine if they need OpenAI, Anthropic, or other provider keys configured

- **Git Integration**: Confirm preferences for auto-commits, dirty commits, commit message attribution

- **Output Style**: Ask about terminal theme (dark-mode/light-mode), colors, streaming preferences

- **Editor Format**: Determine if they want architect mode or specific edit formats

- **Performance**: Ask about caching, repo map tokens, and model metadata

3. **Generate Configuration File**

- Create a `.aider.conf.yml` file with the requested settings

- Include helpful comments explaining each configured option

- Only include settings the user explicitly requested (don't uncomment all defaults)

- Group related settings with section headers from the template

4. **Essential Configuration Sections**

**Model Selection:**

```yaml

# Specify the main model

model: claude-3-5-sonnet-20241022

# Or use convenience flags

sonnet: true

```

**API Keys:**

```yaml

# API keys (alternatively use .env file)

anthropic-api-key: your-key-here

openai-api-key: your-key-here

```

**Git Settings:**

```yaml

# Git integration

git: true

auto-commits: true

dirty-commits: true

attribute-author: true

```

**Output Preferences:**

```yaml

# Terminal appearance

dark-mode: true

pretty: true

stream: true

code-theme: monokai

```

**Performance:**

```yaml

# Caching and optimization

cache-prompts: true

map-tokens: 2048

```

5. **Provide Usage Guidance**

- Explain where to place the file (home directory for global, git root for project-specific)

- Note that API keys can also be stored in `.env` files (recommended for security)

- Mention that command-line flags override config file settings

- Provide examples of common workflows with the configured settings

6. **Security Best Practices**

- Recommend using `.env` files for API keys instead of YAML config

- Ensure `.aider.conf.yml` is added to `.gitignore` if it contains sensitive data

- Note that only OpenAI and Anthropic keys can be in YAML; other providers require `.env`

7. **Advanced Configurations**

- **Custom Models**: Show how to use `model-settings-file` and `model-metadata-file` for unknown models

- **Linting**: Configure `lint-cmd` for automatic code quality checks

- **Testing**: Set up `test-cmd` and `auto-test` for TDD workflows

- **Aliases**: Create model aliases for frequently used configurations

- **Multi-line Mode**: Enable `multiline: true` for complex prompt entry

Example Usage

**User Request**: "Configure Aider to use Claude Sonnet with auto-commits and dark mode"

**Response**:

```yaml

Aider Configuration

Place in git repo root or ~/.aider.conf.yml

Main model

sonnet: true

Git integration

git: true

auto-commits: true

dirty-commits: true

attribute-author: true

gitignore: true

Output preferences

dark-mode: true

pretty: true

stream: true

code-theme: monokai

API key (recommended: use .env file instead)

anthropic-api-key: your-key-here

```

**User Request**: "Set up Aider for a team project with GPT-4o, linting, and custom commit messages"

**Response**:

```yaml

Team Project Aider Configuration

Model

4o: true

weak-model: gpt-4o-mini

Git workflow

auto-commits: true

attribute-commit-message-committer: true

commit-prompt: "Detailed commit message including context and reasoning"

Automatic quality checks

auto-lint: true

lint-cmd:

- "python: ruff check --fix"

- "javascript: eslint --fix"

- "typescript: eslint --fix"

Repo mapping for better context

map-tokens: 4096

map-refresh: auto

Output

pretty: true

show-diffs: true

```

Important Notes

Constraints