Aider Configuration - SerpentMail Project

This skill provides a production-ready Aider configuration file from the malkoG/serpent_mail project. It includes comprehensive settings for model selection, API configuration, git integration, output formatting, and workflow preferences.

Key Configuration Highlights

Instructions

1. **Locate or create your Aider configuration directory**

- For project-specific config: Navigate to your git repository root

- For global config: Use your home directory

2. **Create the configuration file**

- Create a file named `.aider.conf.yml` in the chosen directory

- Copy the complete configuration below into this file

3. **Customize the configuration**

- Review the `read:` section and update file paths to match your project's documentation

- Add your API keys if desired (or use environment variables/`.env` file for better security)

- Uncomment and modify any settings that differ from defaults

- Consider enabling `--auto-test` if you have a test suite configured

4. **Set up API keys securely** (recommended approach)

- Create a `.env` file in your git root

- Add API keys there instead of in the YAML file

- Example: `ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=your_key_here`

5. **Verify the configuration**

- Run `aider --help` to ensure configuration is loaded

- Check for any warnings about invalid settings

- Test with a simple coding task

Configuration File

```yaml

Aider configuration file

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

Sample .aider.conf.yml

This file lists *all* the valid configuration entries.

Place in your home dir, or at the root of your git repo.

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

Note: You can only put OpenAI and Anthropic API keys in the yaml

config file. Keys for all APIs can be stored in a .env file

https://aider.chat/docs/config/dotenv.html

##########

options:

show this help message and exit

#help: xxx

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

Main model:

Specify the model to use for the main chat

#model: xxx

Use claude-3-opus-20240229 model for the main chat

#opus: false

Use claude-3-5-sonnet-20241022 model for the main chat

#sonnet: false

Use claude-3-5-haiku-20241022 model for the main chat

#haiku: false

Use gpt-4-0613 model for the main chat

#4: false

Use gpt-4o model for the main chat

#4o: false

Use gpt-4o-mini model for the main chat

#mini: false

Use gpt-4-1106-preview model for the main chat

#4-turbo: false

Use gpt-3.5-turbo model for the main chat

#35turbo: false

Use deepseek/deepseek-chat model for the main chat

#deepseek: false

Use o1-mini model for the main chat

#o1-mini: false

Use o1-preview model for the main chat

#o1-preview: false

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

API Keys and settings:

Specify the OpenAI API key

#openai-api-key: xxx

Specify the Anthropic API key

#anthropic-api-key: xxx

Specify the api base url

#openai-api-base: xxx

(deprecated, use --set-env OPENAI_API_TYPE=<value>)

#openai-api-type: xxx

(deprecated, use --set-env OPENAI_API_VERSION=<value>)

#openai-api-version: xxx

(deprecated, use --set-env OPENAI_API_DEPLOYMENT_ID=<value>)

#openai-api-deployment-id: xxx

(deprecated, use --set-env OPENAI_ORGANIZATION=<value>)

#openai-organization-id: xxx

Set an environment variable (to control API settings, can be used multiple times)

#set-env: xxx

Specify multiple values like this:

#set-env:

- xxx

- yyy

- zzz

Set an API key for a provider (eg: --api-key provider=<key> sets PROVIDER_API_KEY=<key>)

#api-key: xxx

Specify multiple values like this:

#api-key:

- xxx

- yyy

- zzz

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

Model settings:

List known models which match the (partial) MODEL name

#list-models: xxx

Specify a file with aider model settings for unknown models

#model-settings-file: .aider.model.settings.yml

Specify a file with context window and costs for unknown models

#model-metadata-file: .aider.model.metadata.json

Add a model alias (can be used multiple times)

#alias: xxx

Specify multiple values like this:

#alias:

- xxx

- yyy

- zzz

Set the reasoning_effort API parameter (default: not set)

#reasoning-effort: xxx

Verify the SSL cert when connecting to models (default: True)

#verify-ssl: true

Timeout in seconds for API calls (default: None)

#timeout: xxx

Specify what edit format the LLM should use (default depends on model)

#edit-format: xxx

Use architect edit format for the main chat

#architect: false

Specify the model to use for commit messages and chat history summarization (default depends on --model)

#weak-model: xxx

Specify the model to use for editor tasks (default depends on --model)

#editor-model: xxx

Specify the edit format for the editor model (default: depends on editor model)

#editor-edit-format: xxx

Only work with models that have meta-data available (default: True)

#show-model-warnings: true

Soft limit on tokens for chat history, after which summarization begins. If unspecified, defaults to the model's max_chat_history_tokens.

#max-chat-history-tokens: xxx

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

Cache settings:

Enable caching of prompts (default: False)

#cache-prompts: false

Number of times to ping at 5min intervals to keep prompt cache warm (default: 0)

#cache-keepalive-pings: false

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

Repomap settings:

Suggested number of tokens to use for repo map, use 0 to disable

#map-tokens: xxx

Control how often the repo map is refreshed. Options: auto, always, files, manual (default: auto)

#map-refresh: auto

Multiplier for map tokens when no files are specified (default: 2)

#map-multiplier-no-files: true

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

History Files:

Specify the chat input history file (default: .aider.input.history)

#input-history-file: .aider.input.history

Specify the chat history file (default: .aider.chat.history.md)

#chat-history-file: .aider.chat.history.md

Restore the previous chat history messages (default: False)

#restore-chat-history: false

Log the conversation with the LLM to this file (for example, .aider.llm.history)

#llm-history-file: xxx

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

Output settings:

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

#dark-mode: false

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: true

Set the color for user input (default: #00cc00)

#user-input-color: #00cc00

Set the color for tool output (default: None)

#tool-output-color: xxx

Set the color for tool error messages (default: #FF2222)

#tool-error-color: #FF2222

Set the color for tool warning messages (default: #FFA500)

#tool-warning-color: #FFA500

Set the color for assistant output (default: #0088ff)

#assistant-output-color: #0088ff

Set the color for the completion menu (default: terminal's default text color)

#completion-menu-color: xxx

Set the background color for the completion menu (default: terminal's default background color)

#completion-menu-bg-color: xxx

Set the color for the current item in the completion menu (default: terminal's default background color)

#completion-menu-current-color: xxx

Set the background color for the current item in the completion menu (default: terminal's default text color)

#completion-menu-current-bg-color: xxx

Set the markdown code theme (default: default, other options include monokai, solarized-dark, solarized-light, or a Pygments builtin style, see https://pygments.org/styles for available themes)

#code-theme: default

Show diffs when committing changes (default: False)

#show-diffs: false

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

Git settings:

Enable/disable looking for a git repo (default: True)

#git: true

Enable/disable adding .aider* to .gitignore (default: True)

#gitignore: true

Specify the aider ignore file (default: .aiderignore in git root)

#aiderignore: .aiderignore

Only consider files in the current subtree of the git repository

#subtree-only: false

Enable/disable auto commit of LLM changes (default: True)

auto-commits: false

Enable/disable commits when repo is found dirty (default: True)

#dirty-commits: true

Attribute aider code changes in the git author name (default: True)

#attribute-author: true

Attribute aider commits in the git committer name (default: True)

#attribute-committer: true

Prefix commit messages with 'aider: ' if aider authored the changes (default: False)

#attribute-commit-message-author: false

Prefix all commit messages with 'aider: ' (default: False)

#attribute-commit-message-committer: false

Commit all pending changes with a suitable commit message, then exit

#commit: false

Specify a custom prompt for generating commit messages

#commit-prompt: xxx

Perform a dry run without modifying files (default: False)

#dry-run: false

Skip the sanity check for the git repository (default: False)

#skip-sanity-check-repo: false

Enable/disable watching files for ai coding comments (default: False)

#watch-files: false

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

Fixing and committing:

Lint and fix provided files, or dirty files if none provided

#lint: false

Specify lint commands to run for different languages, eg: "python: flake8 --select=..." (can be used multiple times)

#lint-cmd: xxx

Specify multiple values like this:

#lint-cmd:

- xxx

- yyy

- zzz

Enable/disable automatic linting after changes (default: True)

#auto-lint: true

Specify command to run tests

#test-cmd: xxx

Enable/disable automatic testing after changes (default: False)

#auto-test: false

Run tests, fix problems found and then exit

#test: false

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

Analytics:

Enable/disable analytics for current session (default: random)

#analytics: xxx

Specify a file to log analytics events

#analytics-log: xxx

Permanently disable analytics

#analytics-disable: false

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

Upgrading:

Check for updates and return status in the exit code

#just-check-update: false

Check for new aider versions on launch

#check-update: true

Show release notes on first run of new version (default: None, ask user)

#show-release-notes: xxx

Install the latest version from the main branch

#install-main-branch: false

Upgrade aider to the latest version from PyPI

#upgrade: false

Show the version number and exit

#version: xxx

########

Modes:

Specify a single message to send the LLM, process reply then exit (disables chat mode)

#message: xxx

Specify a file containing the message to send the LLM, process reply, then exit (disables chat mode)

#message-file: xxx

Run aider in your browser (default: False)

#gui: false

Enable automatic copy/paste of chat between aider and web UI (default: False)

#copy-paste: false

Apply the changes from the given file instead of running the chat (debug)

#apply: xxx

Apply clipboard contents as edits using the main model's editor format

#apply-clipboard-edits: false

Do all startup activities then exit before accepting user input (debug)

#exit: false

Print the repo map and exit (debug)

#show-repo-map: false

Print the system prompts and exit (debug)

#show-prompts: false

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

Voice settings:

Audio format for voice recording (default: wav). webm and mp3 require ffmpeg

#voice-format: wav

Specify the language for voice using ISO 639-1 code (default: auto)

#voice-language: en

Specify the input device name for voice recording

#voice-input-device: xxx

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

Other settings:

specify a file to edit (can be used multiple times)

#file: xxx

Specify multiple values like this:

#file:

- xxx

- yyy

- zzz

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

#read: xxx

Specify multiple values like this:

read:

- README.md

- pyproject.toml

- .cursorrules

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

#vim: false

Specify the language to use in the chat (default: None, uses system settings)

#chat-language: xxx

Always say yes to every confirmation

#yes-always: false

Enable verbose output

#verbose: false

Load and execute /commands from a file on launch

#load: xxx

Specify the encoding for input and output (default: utf-8)

#encoding: utf-8

Line endings to use when writing files (default: platform)

#line-endings: platform

Specify the config file (default: search for .aider.conf.yml in git root, cwd or home directory)

#config: xxx

Specify the .env file to load (default: .env in git root)

#env-file: .env

Enable/disable suggesting shell commands (default: True)

#suggest-shell-commands: true

Enable/disable fancy input with history and completion (default: True)

#fancy-input: true

Enable/disable multi-line input mode with Meta-Enter to submit (default: False)

#multiline: false

Enable/disable detection and offering to add URLs to chat (default: True)

#detect-urls: true

```

Important Notes

Common Customizations