Aider Configuration Manager

This skill helps you create and manage Aider configuration files (.aider.conf.yml) with comprehensive settings for AI-powered pair programming.

What This Skill Does

Creates optimized Aider configuration files with settings for:

Instructions

When a user requests Aider configuration setup:

1. **Determine Configuration Scope**

- Ask which settings categories they want to configure

- Common categories: model selection, git behavior, output styling, testing/linting

- Identify if this is for home directory (~/.aider.conf.yml) or project root

2. **Gather Key Requirements**

- Preferred AI model (Claude Sonnet, GPT-4, etc.)

- Git commit preferences (auto-commits, attribution)

- Output preferences (dark/light mode, colors, streaming)

- Testing/linting commands if applicable

- API keys location (.env vs config file)

3. **Create Configuration File**

- Start with minimal essential settings (avoid overwhelming defaults)

- Include only requested/relevant settings

- Add comments explaining non-obvious options

- Use the structure from the sample config

4. **Essential Settings to Include**

```yaml

# Model Selection

model: anthropic/claude-3-7-sonnet-20250219 # or user preference

# Git Behavior

git: true

auto-commits: false # or true based on preference

attribute-author: false

# Output Styling

code-theme: dracula # or default/monokai/solarized

pretty: true

stream: true

# Shell Commands

suggest-shell-commands: false # reduces noise

```

5. **Optional But Useful Settings**

- `map-tokens`: Set to 0 to disable repo map, or adjust based on repo size

- `auto-lint`: true with `lint-cmd` for automated code quality

- `auto-test`: false by default, enable with `test-cmd` if requested

- `weak-model`: Specify cheaper model for commit messages

- `cache-prompts`: false by default, enable for cost savings

- `dark-mode`/`light-mode`: Based on terminal preference

6. **Security Best Practices**

- Never put API keys directly in config (use .env file instead)

- Document .env file usage: `ANTHROPIC_API_KEY`, `OPENAI_API_KEY`

- Note that config should reference .env: `env-file: .env`

7. **Validation Steps**

- Ensure YAML syntax is valid

- Verify boolean values are lowercase (true/false)

- Check that file paths are appropriate for OS

- Confirm model names match Aider's supported models

8. **Provide Usage Guidance**

- Explain where to place the file (home vs project root)

- Document how to override settings via CLI flags

- Show how to test config: `aider --verbose` to verify settings loaded

- Mention precedence: CLI flags > project config > home config

Common Configuration Examples

Minimal Production Setup

```yaml

model: anthropic/claude-3-7-sonnet-20250219

git: true

auto-commits: false

code-theme: default

suggest-shell-commands: false

```

Developer-Friendly Setup

```yaml

model: anthropic/claude-3-7-sonnet-20250219

weak-model: anthropic/claude-3-5-haiku-20241022

git: true

auto-commits: true

auto-lint: true

lint-cmd: "python: ruff check --fix"

dark-mode: true

code-theme: monokai

stream: true

```

Team Project Setup

```yaml

model: gpt-4o

git: true

auto-commits: false

dirty-commits: false

attribute-commit-message-author: true

auto-lint: true

lint-cmd:

- "python: ruff check"

- "javascript: eslint"

test-cmd: pytest

show-diffs: true

```

Important Notes

Constraints