Aider

One line: Aider (50k+ stars on GitHub) is an AI pair programmer that lives in your terminal — you describe the change, it edits the files in your git repo and commits as it goes; every major cloud model (or a free local one) works.

What you get

• A conversational aider > prompt inside your repo: name files, ask for changes, they land as edits (auto-committed)
• Works with a long list of LLMs — OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, OpenRouter, DeepSeek, Ollama, and more (official "Connecting to LLMs" docs)
• Repo map + lint + test awareness: aider keeps the big picture of your codebase while editing
• Config where you expect it: ~/.aider.conf.yml (home) or a .aider.conf.yml at your repo root

Before you start (2 minutes)

• Python 3.10 – 3.12 (hard requirement: PyPI requires_python >=3.10,<3.13, measured) — check with python --version / python3 --version
• A git repo to work in (aider is built around git; it can run outside one, but auto-commit needs git)
• One model source: an API key (OPENAI_API_KEY / ANTHROPIC_API_KEY / …) or a local Ollama server
• Not needed: administrator rights (install is pip install --user, fully inside your profile), Docker, Node.js
• Cost: aider itself is free and open source (Apache-2.0, PyPI package aider-chat) — you only pay your model provider (or nothing, with Ollama)

Install

Route A: install with AiBOX (recommended)

1. Open AiBOX → app directory → Aider → Install
2. AiBOX downloads the official aider-chat wheel from PyPI (sha256-verified) and runs pip install --user — zero admin rights
3. Verification command below printing your version means it's installed

Route B: manual install (official channels)

• pip: python -m pip install aider-chat (macOS: python3 -m pip ...)
• Official streamlined installer (README): python -m pip install aider-install then aider-install — sets up an isolated environment with its own Python/uv, zero config
• CN slow network: prefix either command with PIP_INDEX_URL=https://pypi.tuna.tsinghua.edu.cn/simple

Configuration

1. Open a terminal inside your git repo and run aider — the aider > prompt appears
2. Keys: export them in your shell, e.g. export OPENAI_API_KEY=... / export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=... (aider reads standard env vars — official docs); or use --model ollama/... for free local models
3. Defaults: put options in ~/.aider.conf.yml (searched in git root, cwd or home — official config docs), for example:

model: anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-5
auto-commits: true
dark-theme: true

1. History/logs live inside the project: .aider.input.history, .aider.chat.history.md — back them up with the repo, not with the app

Verification: what "works" looks like

1. aider --version prints aider 0.86.x
2. Inside a repo, aider factorial.py loads the file and shows the model summary
3. Ask "add a docstring" → the file changes on disk and gets committed (auto-commit)
4. /help inside the prompt lists the in-chat commands
5. No API key at hand? aider --model ollama/<name> runs the whole loop against a free local model

FAQ

• aider: command not found: the --user scripts directory may not be on PATH — run python -m pip show aider-chat to confirm the install, then either add the user Scripts dir to PATH or launch with python -m aider
• python opens the Microsoft Store (Windows): install Python 3.10–3.12 from python.org (per-user, no admin) and tick "Add to PATH"
• Version errors / unsupported Python: aider needs 3.10–3.12; create a venv with one of those and pip-install inside it
• CN dependency downloads are slow: PIP_INDEX_URL=https://pypi.tuna.tsinghua.edu.cn/simple
• Model warnings: aider tells you when a model is untested or weak for edit formats — switch with --model or in the config file
• Auto-commit worries: aider commits each change with a generated message; turn it off with auto-commits: false in ~/.aider.conf.yml
• Upgrade: python -m pip install --upgrade --user aider-chat

Uninstall

• python -m pip uninstall -y aider-chat (macOS: python3 -m pip ...); delete ~/.aider.conf.yml if you created it
• Project files .aider.input.history / .aider.chat.history.md stay in your repositories — remove them yourself if unwanted
• ⚠️ If you pasted API keys into ~/.aider.conf.yml, export them before deleting — back up first

More: installation · usage · config · LLM setup