What it does
Aider is a command-line tool for working with language models on code. You run it inside a project directory, choose a model, and ask for changes, either to start a new project or to build on an existing one. It builds a map of the whole codebase so it copes better with larger projects, works with more than 100 programming languages, and commits each change to git with a sensible message so you can review or undo it with ordinary git tools. It can also lint and test the code after every change and try to fix problems those tools report. Models are connected with your own API keys. The site names Claude, DeepSeek and OpenAI models as the ones it works best with, and says it can connect to almost any model, including local ones. You can also add images and web pages to the conversation, speak requests by voice, ask for changes by leaving comments in your editor, or copy and paste to and from a model's web chat.
Capabilities
- Works with cloud and local models
- Codebase map for larger projects
- Automatic git commits for every change
- Linting and testing after each edit
- Voice input, images and web pages as context
- Use from an editor by leaving comments in code
When to use it
- You want an AI assistant that edits code directly from the terminal
- You want each AI edit recorded as a git commit you can undo
- You want to choose between cloud and local models
