Aider Convention-Driven Development

Automatically configure Aider to load project conventions, domain-specific guidelines, and learning captures for enhanced context-aware AI assistance.

What This Does

This skill sets up an `.aider.conf.yaml` file that:

Instructions

Step 1: Check for Existing Configuration

Look for existing Aider configuration files in the project root:

If one exists, read it to preserve any custom settings.

Step 2: Identify Convention Files

Search for convention documentation in the project:

Step 3: Detect Project Type

Determine the project domains by:

Step 4: Configure Test Command

Set the `test-cmd` based on detected tools:

Step 5: Configure Lint Command

Set the `lint-cmd` based on detected tools:

Step 6: Generate Configuration File

Create `.aider.conf.yaml` with:

```yaml

Aider configuration file

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

Automatically read conventions file to provide context

read: CONVENTIONS.md

Include domain-specific conventions

read-only:

- global.md

# Add detected domain files here

# - domains/python/core.md

# - domains/testing/core.md

# - staging/learnings.md

Model preferences (optional)

model: gpt-4o

edit-format: diff

Git configuration

auto-commits: false

commit: false

Output preferences

pretty: true

stream: true

Testing configuration

test-cmd: # Configure your test command (e.g., pytest)

Linting configuration

lint-cmd: # Configure your lint command (e.g., ruff check)

Additional settings

encoding: utf-8

```

Step 7: Populate Domain Files

Only include `read-only` paths for files that actually exist. Remove entries for missing files.

Step 8: Verify Configuration

After creating the file:

1. Confirm the syntax is valid YAML

2. Check that all referenced files exist

3. Output the path to the created configuration file

4. Suggest running `aider --help` to see all available options

Important Notes

Example Usage

**User**: "Set up Aider with our project conventions"

**Expected Result**: `.aider.conf.yaml` created with auto-detected domains, test commands, and convention file paths.