Aider with GitHub Copilot Backend

Configure Aider to use GitHub Copilot's API endpoint with Claude Sonnet 4 for powerful AI-assisted coding.

What This Does

This skill configures Aider to route requests through GitHub Copilot's API while using Claude Sonnet 4 as the primary model and GPT-4.1 as the fallback model. It includes sensible defaults for dark mode theming and disables git attribution features.

Instructions

1. **Create the Aider configuration file** in your home directory:

- Create `~/.aider.conf.yml`

- Add the following configuration:

```yaml

openai-api-base: https://api.githubcopilot.com

model: claude-sonnet-4

weak-model: gpt-4.1

show-model-warnings: false

dark-mode: true

code-theme: one-dark

attribute-author: false

attribute-committer: false

attribute-co-authored-by: false

```

2. **Ensure you have GitHub Copilot access**:

- You need an active GitHub Copilot subscription

- Authenticate with GitHub CLI: `gh auth login`

- Verify Copilot access in your GitHub account settings

3. **Install Aider** if not already installed:

- `pip install aider-chat`

- Or: `pipx install aider-chat`

4. **Launch Aider** in any project directory:

- Run `aider` in your terminal

- Aider will automatically use the configuration from `~/.aider.conf.yml`

Configuration Breakdown

Usage Examples

Once configured, simply run:

```bash

Start Aider in current directory

aider

Add specific files to the context

aider src/main.py tests/test_main.py

Use with git repo

cd your-project

aider --auto-commits

```

Notes