Aider Configuration Template

A complete `.aider.conf.yml` configuration file template showcasing all available Aider settings for AI-assisted coding.

Overview

This skill provides a comprehensive configuration template for Aider, an AI pair programming tool. The template includes every valid configuration option with inline documentation, allowing you to customize Aider's behavior for your workflow.

Instructions

When a user asks for Aider configuration help, follow these steps:

1. **Understand the Request**

- Ask which specific Aider features they want to configure (model selection, git settings, output preferences, etc.)

- Determine if they need a full template or specific sections

- Check if they have an existing `.aider.conf.yml` to modify

2. **Generate Configuration**

- Create a `.aider.conf.yml` file at the git repository root or home directory

- Include relevant sections based on user needs

- Uncomment and set values for requested options

- Add comments explaining non-obvious settings

3. **Key Configuration Sections**

**Model Selection:**

- Main chat model (`model`, `opus`, `sonnet`, `4o`, etc.)

- Weak model for summaries (`weak-model`)

- Editor model for refactoring (`editor-model`)

**API Keys:**

- OpenAI key (`openai-api-key`)

- Anthropic key (`anthropic-api-key`)

- Custom API base URL (`openai-api-base`)

- Environment variables (`set-env`)

**Git Integration:**

- Auto-commits (`auto-commits: true`)

- Dirty commits (`dirty-commits: true`)

- Author attribution (`attribute-author`, `attribute-committer`)

- Commit message prefixes

**Output Preferences:**

- Dark/light mode (`dark-mode`, `light-mode`)

- Color customization for different output types

- Streaming responses (`stream: true`)

- Code theme (`code-theme`)

**Repo Map:**

- Token allocation (`map-tokens`)

- Refresh strategy (`map-refresh: auto`)

- Multiplier for no-files mode

**Linting & Testing:**

- Lint commands per language (`lint-cmd`)

- Auto-lint after changes (`auto-lint: true`)

- Test command (`test-cmd`)

- Auto-test behavior

**Advanced Features:**

- Voice input settings (`voice-format`, `voice-language`)

- Browser GUI mode (`gui`)

- Cache settings (`cache-prompts`)

- File watching (`watch-files`)

4. **Best Practices to Recommend**

- Place `.aider.conf.yml` at git repo root for project-specific settings

- Use `~/.aider.conf.yml` for global defaults

- Store API keys in `.env` file instead of config (more secure)

- Enable `auto-commits: true` for safety

- Set appropriate `map-tokens` based on codebase size

- Configure `lint-cmd` for automatic code quality checks

- Use `dark-mode` or `light-mode` for better readability

5. **Common Configurations**

**Minimal Setup:**

```yaml

model: gpt-4o

auto-commits: true

dark-mode: true

```

**Team Development:**

```yaml

model: claude-3-5-sonnet-20241022

auto-commits: true

dirty-commits: true

attribute-author: true

lint-cmd:

- "python: ruff check --fix"

- "javascript: eslint --fix"

auto-lint: true

```

**Cost-Conscious:**

```yaml

model: gpt-4o-mini

weak-model: gpt-3.5-turbo

map-tokens: 1024

cache-prompts: true

```

6. **Environment Variables Alternative**

Remind users that sensitive keys can go in `.env` file:

```

OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...

ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-...

```

7. **Validation**

- After creating config, suggest running `aider --help` to verify

- Test with `aider --config .aider.conf.yml --show-prompts` to check settings load

- Recommend starting with minimal config and adding options incrementally

Usage Examples

**Example 1: "Set up Aider for my Python project"**

```yaml

.aider.conf.yml

model: claude-3-5-sonnet-20241022

auto-commits: true

dirty-commits: true

attribute-author: true

dark-mode: true

lint-cmd:

- "python: ruff check --fix"

auto-lint: true

test-cmd: pytest

map-tokens: 2048

```

**Example 2: "I want to use GPT-4 with custom colors"**

```yaml

.aider.conf.yml

model: gpt-4o

dark-mode: false

user-input-color: "#0066cc"

assistant-output-color: "#00aa00"

tool-error-color: "#cc0000"

code-theme: monokai

```

**Example 3: "Configure Aider for a monorepo"**

```yaml

.aider.conf.yml

subtree-only: true

map-tokens: 4096

map-refresh: files

aiderignore: .aiderignore

gitignore: true

```

Notes

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