Aider

About

Git-integrated pair programming with surgical edits and undo. Found in: owainlewis/awesome-artificial-intelligence

Details

Aider is an open-source AI pair programming tool that runs in your terminal, enabling collaboration with large language models (LLMs) to start new projects or enhance existing codebases. It supports cloud and local LLMs including Claude 3.7 Sonnet, DeepSeek R1 & Chat V3, OpenAI o1, o3-mini & GPT-4o, and can connect to almost any LLM. Aider creates a map of your entire codebase for better context in larger projects and works with over 100 programming languages. It integrates with git to automatically commit changes with sensible messages, supports adding images and web pages for visual context, offers voice-to-code functionality, and automatically lints and tests code after changes. Aider can also be used within IDEs via comments and can copy/paste code to web chat interfaces.

Key Features

Works with cloud and local LLMs (Claude, DeepSeek, OpenAI, local models)
Maps entire codebase for context in large projects
Supports 100+ programming languages
Git integration with automatic commit messages and undo
IDE integration via code comments
Add images and web pages for visual context
Voice-to-code feature for speaking changes
Automatic linting and testing with fix capability
Copy/paste interface for web chat LLMs

Use Cases

Starting new projects from scratch
Building on existing codebases
Requesting new features via voice or text
Writing test cases and bug fixes
Refactoring and improving code quality

Pros & Cons

Pros

Supports a wide range of LLMs including local models
Automatic git commits with descriptive messages
Voice-to-code enables hands-free development
Can provide context from images and web pages
Linter and test integration catches errors early
Open source and free to use

Cons

Requires API keys for cloud-based LLMs
Initial setup may be complex for non-technical users
Dependent on LLM availability and latency
Limited to terminal-based workflow without native IDE plugin