Aider Configuration

Configure Aider AI pair programming assistant with comprehensive settings for model selection, git integration, automatic commits, linting, UI customization, and workflow automation.

What This Skill Does

This skill sets up Aider with production-ready configuration including:

Instructions

When the user requests Aider configuration, follow these steps:

1. **Determine Configuration Scope**

- Ask which aspects to configure: model, git, automation, UI, or complete setup

- Check if `.aider.conf.yml` already exists in the project root

- Identify if they're using a local LLM or API-based model

2. **Model Configuration**

- Set `model` to the desired AI model (e.g., `openai/qwen2.5-coder-14b-instruct`, `claude-3-5-sonnet`, `gpt-4`)

- Configure `openai-api-base` if using a local LLM server (e.g., `http://localhost:5000/v1`)

- Set `model-settings-file` and `model-metadata-file` for advanced model customization

3. **Git Integration**

- Enable `git: true` for version control integration

- Configure `auto-commits: true` for automatic commit creation

- Set `dirty-commits: true` to allow commits with uncommitted changes

- Enable author attribution with `attribute-author: true` and `attribute-committer: true`

- Set `commit: false` if user wants manual commit control

4. **Automation Features**

- Configure `auto-lint: true` to automatically run linters

- Set `lint-cmd` array with specific linting commands if needed

- Enable `auto-test: false` by default (can be enabled for automatic test running)

- Configure `suggest-shell-commands: true` for shell command suggestions

5. **File and History Management**

- Set `chat-history-file` to `.aider.chat.history.md`

- Set `input-history-file` to `.aider.input.history`

- Configure `aiderignore` file path for excluding files

- Enable `gitignore: true` to respect .gitignore patterns

6. **UI/UX Preferences**

- Set color preferences:

- `assistant-output-color: #0088ff` (blue)

- `user-input-color: #00cc00` (green)

- `tool-error-color: #FF2222` (red)

- `tool-warning-color: #FFA500` (orange)

- Configure `code-theme: default` or other theme

- Set `dark-mode` or `light-mode` based on preference

- Enable `fancy-input: true` for enhanced input experience

- Configure `vim: true` if user prefers vim keybindings

7. **Repository Mapping**

- Set `map-tokens: 1024` for repository context size

- Configure `map-refresh: auto` for automatic map updates

- Set `map-multiplier-no-files: 2` for scaling behavior

- Enable `show-repo-map: false` by default (can enable for debugging)

8. **Advanced Features**

- Configure `detect-urls: true` to automatically detect URLs in code

- Set `stream: true` for streaming responses

- Enable `pretty: true` for formatted output

- Configure `cache-prompts: false` (enable if using caching)

- Set `verify-ssl: true` for API security

9. **Analytics and Updates**

- Set `analytics: no` and `analytics-disable: true` to disable telemetry

- Configure `check-update: true` to check for Aider updates

- Set `show-model-warnings: false` to hide model deprecation warnings

10. **Create Configuration File**

- Write settings to `.aider.conf.yml` in YAML format

- Create `.aiderignore` file if needed

- Create `.env` file reference if API keys are required

- Verify configuration with `aider --just-check-update`

Example Usage

**User:** "Set up Aider with a local LLM running on port 5000"

**Assistant Actions:**

**User:** "Configure Aider for Claude with auto-testing enabled"

**Assistant Actions:**

Important Notes

Constraints