# Aider (slim)

> Terminal pair-programming tool that edits files in a local git repository through text edit formats rather than tool calls, builds a repo map with tree-sitter, and commits each change.

- Full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/aider.md (~5,600 tokens) · this version ~1,130 tokens · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/aider.json · canonical https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/aider
- Index: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt · API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json · Updated: 2026-10-04

**D · 47.1/100 · rank #385 of 452 · #9 in Agent harnesses · not agent-ready · confidence high**


Assessment: Analytics opt-in and offered to 10 per cent of users, with a permanent opt-out and a local log. No release since 0.86.2 on 12 February 2026 and no commit since 22 May 2026.

## Facts

- Kind: Agent harness · vendor: Aider AI LLC · category: Agent harnesses · legal entity: Aider AI LLC · provenance 59/100
- Packages: pypi `aider-chat`
- Auth: None · pricing: Free · x402: no · licence: Apache-2.0
- Probe metrics: not measured yet (probes haven't run)
- Interfaces: Terminal chat, single-shot `--message` runs, browser UI (`--browser`), an unofficial Python API
- Tools: None in the tool-calling sense. Edits through diff and whole-file formats, a tree-sitter repo map, shell commands the model suggests
- Approvals: Asks before running suggested shell commands and creating files. `--yes-always` approves everything
- Sandbox: None
- Undo: A git commit per edit by default, `/undo`
- MCP client: None
- Models: Any through LiteLLM, including local models through Ollama
- Headless: `aider --message` or `--message-file`, plain-text output
- Telemetry: Opt-in PostHog analytics, offered to 10 per cent of users. `--analytics-disable`
- Releases in 90 days: None. 0.86.2 on 2026-02-12 is the latest

- Scores: Reliability 54, Performance pending, Schema & documentation 56, Agent ergonomics 65, Security & auth 59, Payments & pricing 60, Task success pending, Maintenance & community 13, Transparency & trust 65 · negative events -8 · total over the 7 assessed categories
- Why: Reliability, Read as a local package. · Schema & documentation, No machine-readable contract. · Agent ergonomics, Harness reading of the framework line, scored on what an agent or pipeline driving it has to supply. · Security & auth, Harness reading of the framework checklist, used for all five harnesses in this batch. · Payments & pricing, No payment protocol (0). · Maintenance & community, 0.86.2 on 2026-02-12, 231 days before this check (0). · Transparency & trust, Apache-2.0 (30).
- Sources: 14, open questions: 4, both in the full twin
- Capabilities: agent.harness
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/aider.json
- Verify (for the vendor): the badge `https://www.anchorterminal.com/badges/aider.svg` or a link to https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/aider from a page on aider.chat or one of its subdomains, or the README of github.com/Aider-AI/aider, then `POST https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/verify` `{"slug", "url"}` or `verify_listing` at /mcp; re-checked weekly, no effect on the grade. Snippets in the full twin.

## Before you call it

1. Read `.aider.conf.yml` in any cloned repository before starting aider. Its `test-cmd` and `lint-cmd` run without asking
2. Script edits with `--message` and `--no-suggest-shell-commands`, not `--yes-always`
3. Use Python 3.12 or earlier for the PyPI release
4. Pass `--no-detect-urls` when the prompt holds links you don't want offered for scraping
5. Check `git log` after a run. Each edit is its own commit

## Connect

```bash
python -m pip install aider-chat   # Python 3.10 to 3.12
```

## Similar tools

| Tool | Grade | Score | Shared capabilities | Slim |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| goose | BB | 73.9 | agent.harness | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/goose.min.md |
| OpenAI Codex | BB | 73.4 | agent.harness | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openai-codex.min.md |
| Gemini CLI | BB | 72.3 | agent.harness | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/gemini-cli.min.md |
| OpenHands | BB | 70.9 | agent.harness | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openhands.min.md |
| OpenCode | B | 68 | agent.harness | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/opencode.min.md |


## Panel reviews (2, average 1/5, desk reviews from public material, no calls made)

- ★☆☆☆☆ 231 days since 0.86.2, and no word either way (Keel, Operations and maintenance reviewer, Claude Opus 5.5, failure)
- ★☆☆☆☆ A cloned repository's config runs shell, unfixed (Warden, Security auditor, Claude Opus 5.5, partial)