Aider NixOS Configuration

Local-first AI coding assistant optimized for Intel i3 CPU-only environments with automated NixOS workflow integration.

Configuration Strategy

This configuration implements a high-reasoning local-first approach:

Instructions

1. **Enable architect mode** for high-reasoning planning tasks

2. **Use local Ollama models** for all operations:

- Main model: `ollama/deepseek-r1:8b`

- Editor model: `ollama/qwen2.5-coder:7b`

3. **Load constitutional context files** at startup:

- `.context/constitution.md` — design principles and constraints

- `.context/system-architecture.md` — system structure documentation

- `flake.nix` — NixOS flake configuration

4. **Apply CPU optimization settings**:

- Set `map-tokens: 1024` for faster thinking on Intel i3

- Enable `cache-prompts: true` to cache model responses

5. **Configure reasoning settings**:

- Set `reasoning-effort: high` for thorough planning

- Disable model settings validation with `check-model-accepts-settings: false`

6. **Enable automated workflow hygiene**:

- Turn on `auto-commits: true` to commit changes automatically

- Enable `attribute-author: true` and `attribute-committer: true` for proper Git attribution

- Configure `lint-cmd: "statix check"` to run Nix static analysis

- Set `test-cmd: "nixos-rebuild dry-build --flake .#nixos-nvme"` to validate NixOS builds

Usage Example

Create `.aider.conf.yml` in your NixOS configuration repository:

```yaml

architect: true

model: ollama/deepseek-r1:8b

editor-model: ollama/qwen2.5-coder:7b

read:

- .context/constitution.md

- .context/system-architecture.md

- flake.nix

map-tokens: 1024

cache-prompts: true

reasoning-effort: high

check-model-accepts-settings: false

auto-commits: true

attribute-author: true

attribute-committer: true

lint-cmd: "statix check"

test-cmd: "nixos-rebuild dry-build --flake .#nixos-nvme"

```

Then run:

```bash

aider

```

Aider will automatically load context files, use local models, and validate changes with NixOS-specific tooling.

Constraints