Aider settings guide

Aider is an open-source CLI tool — you bring your own API key (Claude, OpenAI, Gemini, DeepSeek), so you control costs and never pay a per-seat subscription.

Aider integrates with git natively — every change is a clean git commit with an auto-generated message, giving you full history and easy reversion if an AI change breaks something.

Use `/add` to specify exactly which files Aider reads and modifies — adding only relevant files keeps context small and costs low versus adding the entire codebase.

Aider works with low-cost models such as DeepSeek through its git-based workflow, which keeps each change reviewable and cheap.

Use `--model claude-opus-4-5` for complex refactoring and architecture changes.

Aider's `/voice` command lets you dictate code changes verbally — describe what you want while looking at the screen instead of typing long descriptions in the terminal.

Set up a `.aider.conf.yml` in your project root with your preferred model, API settings, and file exclusions — eliminate typing flags on every session start.