Aider with OpenRouter KAT-Coder Pro

Configure Aider to use OpenRouter's free KAT-Coder Pro model with specialized settings for R programming, Emacs workflows, and R markdown to Typst conversion.

What This Skill Does

Sets up Aider with:

Instructions

1. **Set up the configuration file**

- Create `.aider.conf.yml` in your project root

- Copy the configuration structure below

2. **Configure the model provider**

```yaml

model:

provider: openrouter

model: kwaipilot/kat-coder-pro:free

```

3. **Set up prompts**

```yaml

prompts:

file: prompts.md

```

- Create a `prompts.md` file with your custom prompts

- This allows you to maintain reusable prompt templates

4. **Configure Git integration**

```yaml

git:

auto_commit: true

commit_message: "Auto-commit from aider"

```

- Enables automatic commits after each change

- Customize commit message as needed

5. **Configure OpenRouter API**

```yaml

openrouter:

api_key: ${OPENROUTER_API_KEY}

```

- Set `OPENROUTER_API_KEY` environment variable

- Get your API key from [OpenRouter](https://openrouter.ai/)

6. **Set environment variables**

```yaml

env:

- OPENROUTER_API_KEY

```

7. **Configure additional settings**

```yaml

settings:

verbose: true

allow_edits: true

default_branch: main

```

8. **Customize the system prompt**

```yaml

system_prompt: |

You are an expert R programmer and emacs user.

You are working on a Debian 13 system.

Goal is to read .qmd files (R markdown) and write a new file in typst format (*.typ)

Your responses should be concise and to the point.

Focus on practical solutions and best practices.

```

- Modify this to match your specific use case

- Include relevant expertise areas, tools, and goals

Usage Example

After creating `.aider.conf.yml` with the configuration above:

```bash

Set your API key

export OPENROUTER_API_KEY="your_key_here"

Run aider - it will automatically use the config file

aider

Or explicitly specify the config

aider --config .aider.conf.yml

Run with specific model (overrides config)

aider --model openrouter/kwaipilot/kat-coder-pro:free

```

Use Cases

Configuration Notes

Environment Setup

```bash

Add to your .bashrc or .zshrc

export OPENROUTER_API_KEY="your_openrouter_api_key"

Or use a .env file (requires dotenv support)

echo "OPENROUTER_API_KEY=your_key_here" >> .env

```

Related Configuration Files