Aider Configuration

Configure Aider AI pair programming assistant with custom settings for git integration, auto-commits, and read-only context files.

Instructions

When the user invokes this skill, help them configure Aider for their project by creating or modifying the `.aider.conf.yaml` file in the project root.

Follow these steps:

1. **Check for existing configuration**

- Look for `.aider.conf.yaml` in the project root

- If it exists, read it first before making changes

2. **Ask about configuration preferences**

- Git integration: Should .aider* files be added to .gitignore?

- Auto-commits: Should Aider automatically commit LLM changes?

- Read-only files: Are there any files that should be included as read-only context (e.g., CONVENTIONS.md, README.md, docs)?

3. **Create or update the configuration file**

- Use the following template structure:

```yaml

# See docs https://aider.chat/docs/config/aider_conf.html

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

# Git settings:

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

gitignore: false

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

auto-commits: false

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

# Other settings:

## Specify read-only files for context

#read:

# - CONVENTIONS.md

# - README.md

```

4. **Common configuration patterns**

- **Disable gitignore** (`gitignore: false`): When you want to track Aider's internal files

- **Disable auto-commits** (`auto-commits: false`): When you prefer manual control over commits

- **Add read-only files**: Include project conventions, architecture docs, or README files as context without allowing Aider to modify them

5. **Validate the configuration**

- Ensure YAML syntax is correct

- Verify file paths for read-only files exist

- Confirm settings match user intent

Examples

**Minimal configuration (disable auto-features):**

```yaml

gitignore: false

auto-commits: false

```

**With read-only context files:**

```yaml

gitignore: false

auto-commits: false

read:

- CONVENTIONS.md

- docs/ARCHITECTURE.md

- README.md

```

**Default Aider behavior (no custom config needed):**

Notes