Aider Configuration

This skill helps you create and customize `.aider.conf.yml` configuration files for the Aider AI coding assistant. Aider is a command-line tool that pairs with LLMs to edit code in your local git repository.

What This Skill Does

Generates a comprehensive Aider configuration file with:

Instructions

1. **Determine Configuration Scope**

- Ask the user if they want project-level (git root) or user-level (~/.aider.conf.yml) configuration

- Identify which features they want to enable (model selection, auto-testing, linting, etc.)

2. **Configure Model Settings**

- Identify the primary model (GPT-4o, Claude Sonnet, DeepSeek, etc.)

- Set API keys (OpenAI and Anthropic only in YAML; others go in .env)

- Configure weak model for commit messages if needed

- Set cache options for prompt caching if supported

3. **Set Up Git Integration**

- Enable/disable auto-commits (`auto-commits: true`)

- Configure commit attribution (`attribute-author`, `attribute-committer`)

- Set custom commit message prompts if needed

- Configure .aiderignore patterns

4. **Configure Output Settings**

- Choose dark-mode or light-mode color scheme

- Set custom colors for user input, assistant output, tool errors

- Configure code theme (default, monokai, solarized-dark, solarized-light)

- Enable/disable streaming and pretty output

5. **Set Up Automation**

- Configure linting commands per language (`lint-cmd: "python: flake8 --select=E,W"`)

- Enable auto-lint after changes

- Set test command (`test-cmd: "pytest"`)

- Enable/disable auto-test

6. **Configure Repository Mapping**

- Set map-tokens (default: 1024, use 0 to disable)

- Configure map-refresh strategy (auto, always, files, manual)

- Set map-multiplier-no-files (default: 2)

7. **Generate Configuration File**

- Create `.aider.conf.yml` at the appropriate location

- Include only non-default values to keep config clean

- Add comments explaining key settings

Example Usage

**Basic Configuration (GPT-4o + Auto-commits)**

```yaml

.aider.conf.yml

model: gpt-4o-2024-08-06

auto-commits: true

dark-mode: true

show-diffs: true

```

**Advanced Configuration (Claude Sonnet + Testing + Linting)**

```yaml

.aider.conf.yml

model: claude-3-5-sonnet-20240620

weak-model: gpt-4o-mini

auto-commits: true

attribute-commit-message-author: true

dark-mode: true

stream: true

lint-cmd:

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

- "javascript: eslint"

auto-lint: true

test-cmd: "pytest tests/"

auto-test: false

map-tokens: 2048

cache-prompts: true

```

**Minimal Configuration (User Defaults)**

```yaml

~/.aider.conf.yml

model: gpt-4o-2024-08-06

dark-mode: true

auto-commits: true

gitignore: true

```

Important Notes

Configuration Validation

After generating the config, suggest the user run:

```bash

aider --verbose --exit

```

This validates the configuration and exits before accepting input.