Aider
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What is Aider?
Aider is an open-source AI pair programmer that runs in your terminal, connects a choice of language models to your local repository and commits each change to Git as it goes.
A highly popular open-source AI pair programming tool that runs in your terminal, connecting multiple LLMs directly to your local codebase and Git repository.
Aider allows you to edit code using natural language from the command line. It creates an interactive chat session where the AI proposes code changes and automatically commits them to your Git history with descriptive messages. Aider is completely model-agnostic, allowing developers to plug in Claude, GPT, or local models.
How it relates to Orbit
Orbit can work with Aider as a file-reading coding agent for a registered project. See What is Orbit for details.
When you would use it
You use Aider when you want a highly flexible, open-source terminal agent that tightly integrates with your Git workflow and allows you to swap out underlying AI models at will.
Common operations
- Refactoring complex backend logic with automatic Git commit tracking.
- Voice-to-code programming directly in the terminal.
- Applying AI code changes safely with easy undo commands.
Frequently asked questions
Which models does Aider support?
Many: Claude, GPT, Gemini, DeepSeek and local models among them, configured through API keys or local endpoints.
Does Aider work with Orbit?
Orbit is model-agnostic and works with any agent that reads files, Aider included. See What is Orbit.