Aider review: Terminal pair programming with LLMs for new or existing codebases

What Aider does

Aider is a terminal-based tool for pair programming with large language models. You start it from inside a project directory and can use it to begin a new project or to extend code that already exists.

The vendor says it builds a map of the whole codebase to help in larger projects, and that it handles 100+ code languages, with python, javascript, rust, ruby and go named as examples. Changes are committed to git automatically with commit messages, so the usual git tools can show diffs and undo what the AI did.

Other listed abilities include use from an IDE or editor through comments in your code, adding images and web pages to the chat as context, voice requests for features, tests or bug fixes, and automatic linting and testing after edits, with fixes for problems those tools detect. A copy/paste mode also lets it work with an LLM through its browser chat.

Aider connects to cloud models and almost any other LLM, including local ones. The getting-started commands install it through pip and pass a provider API key on the command line.

• Cloud and local LLM support
• Codebase map for larger projects
• 100+ code languages
• Automatic git commits
• Use from an IDE via code comments
• Images and web pages as context
• Voice-to-code requests
• Automatic linting and testing
• Copy/paste to LLM web chat

Our take

Aider suits developers who already work in a terminal and with git and want an assistant that edits real project files and records each change as a commit. Support for local models helps if you do not want to depend on one provider. People who want a graphical app or a clearly priced subscription may find it a weaker match.