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Aider

Official Docs: aider.chat Category: CLI

Aider is an open-source AI pair programming tool that works in your terminal. It supports multiple AI models and integrates with git.

Works With

Aider supports multiple models including Claude, GPT-4, and local models via Ollama.

Configuration

See Understanding Config Directories for general concepts.

Aider can be configured via:

Method Location
Command line flags Per-session
Environment variables AIDER_* variables
Config file .aider.conf.yml in project or home
Git config .aider section in .git/config

Configuration File

# ~/.aider.conf.yml or project/.aider.conf.yml
model: claude-3-5-sonnet-20241022
auto-commits: true
dark-mode: true

Environment Variables

export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="sk-ant-..."
export OPENAI_API_KEY="sk-..."
export AIDER_MODEL="claude-3-5-sonnet-20241022"

Tips & Tricks

Community Tips

This section collects tips from real users. Contribute your tips!

Useful commands:

  • /add file.py - Add file to context
  • /drop file.py - Remove file from context
  • /undo - Undo last change
  • /diff - Show pending changes
  • /commit - Commit changes

Workflow tips:

  • Start with small, focused changes
  • Use /add to give Aider context about related files
  • Review diffs before committing
  • Aider auto-commits by default - use --no-auto-commits if you prefer manual control

Model selection:

# Use Claude
aider --model claude-3-5-sonnet-20241022

# Use GPT-4
aider --model gpt-4-turbo

# Use local model via Ollama
aider --model ollama/codellama

Common Issues

"Model not found"

  • Check you have the correct API key set
  • Verify the model name is correct
  • For Ollama, ensure the model is downloaded

"Git repository required"

  • Aider works best in git repos
  • Initialize with git init if needed
  • Or use --no-git flag

"Context too large"

  • Use /drop to remove unnecessary files
  • Be selective about which files to /add
  • Consider using a model with larger context

Community Resources

Help Improve This Page

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