Aider Configuration - RomanVolkov dotfiles

Production Aider configuration from RomanVolkov's $HOME dotfiles, optimized for interactive coding sessions with file watching and custom UI theming.

Configuration Overview

This skill provides a battle-tested `.aider.conf.yml` configuration that:

Setup Instructions

1. **Locate or create your Aider config file**

- Aider searches for `.aider.conf.yml` in:

- Git repository root

- Current working directory

- Home directory (`~/.aider.conf.yml`)

2. **Apply the configuration**

- Copy the settings below into your `.aider.conf.yml`

- Adjust model and API key settings for your provider

- Modify colors if using a different terminal theme

3. **Configure API keys**

- Set API keys via environment variables in `.env` file (recommended)

- Or uncomment and set `openai-api-key` / `anthropic-api-key` in YAML

4. **Verify the configuration**

```bash

aider --config /path/to/.aider.conf.yml

```

Core Configuration Settings

```yaml

UI Settings

dark-mode: true

pretty: true

user-input-color: "#e0ab00"

assistant-output-color: "#fcfcfc"

File Management

subtree-only: false

watch-files: true

Git Behavior

auto-commits: false

Model Settings (uncomment and configure)

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

#anthropic-api-key: xxx

#openai-api-key: xxx

```

Key Features Explained

**Watch Files Mode** (`watch-files: true`)

**Auto-Commits Disabled** (`auto-commits: false`)

**Subtree-Only False** (`subtree-only: false`)

**Custom Colors**

Optional Advanced Settings

**Repository Map Tuning**

```yaml

map-tokens: 2048 # Adjust token budget for repo map

map-refresh: auto # Options: auto, always, files, manual

```

**Commit Message Customization**

```yaml

attribute-commit-message-author: true # Prefix: "aider: <message>"

commit-prompt: "Write a detailed commit message explaining the changes"

```

**Linting Integration**

```yaml

auto-lint: true

lint-cmd:

- "python: ruff check --fix"

- "javascript: eslint --fix"

```

**Testing Integration**

```yaml

test-cmd: pytest

auto-test: true # Run tests after every change

```

Usage Examples

**Start Aider with this config**

```bash

Aider auto-detects .aider.conf.yml in git root or home directory

aider

Explicitly specify config file

aider --config ~/.aider.conf.yml

Add files to edit

aider src/main.py tests/test_main.py

```

**Using watch mode**

```python

In your code, add a comment:

aider: refactor this function to use async/await

Aider detects the comment and triggers AI assistance automatically

```

**Manual commit workflow**

```bash

After AI makes changes, review them

Then commit manually:

/commit

Or use git directly

git diff

git add .

git commit -m "Your message"

```

Important Notes

Customization Tips

**For light terminal themes**

```yaml

dark-mode: false

light-mode: true

user-input-color: "#0066cc"

assistant-output-color: "#333333"

```

**For aggressive auto-save**

```yaml

auto-commits: true

dirty-commits: true

```

**For focused work (single directory)**

```yaml

subtree-only: true

```

Troubleshooting

**Colors not displaying correctly**

**Watch mode not triggering**

**Config not loading**

Source

Configuration extracted from RomanVolkov's dotfiles repository - a curated collection of production-ready development environment settings.