aider.nvim

A Neovim plugin for seamless integration with Aider, an AI pair programming tool.

⚠️ Warning: This plugin is under rapid development and breaking changes may occur. If you encounter any issues, please file an issue on GitHub.

Features

• Optionally start Aider automatically in the background
• When in background mode (default):
  • Get live streamed notifications as Aider is processing
  • The terminal will automatically be brought to the foreground if Aider prompts for input
  • Defaults to using the --watch-file feature
    • So that all open files will get added to Aider automatically
    • Aider will auto-detect AI, AI! and AI? comments
• Auto reload all files changed by Aider
• Add configurable hooks to run when Aider finishes updating a file
  • For example, you can use diffview to always show a gorgeous diff
• Send commands to Aider explicitly with AiderSend <cmd>
  • Can be used to create custom prompts
• Toggle Aider terminal window and bring to background/foreground at any time, with multiple window formats
• Load files into Aider session
  • You can use fzf-lua or telescope to select files (multi-select supported) with multiple file viewers:
    • Telescope git_files | find_files | buffers | oldfiles
    • FZF-Lua any file finder that follows standard conventions for passing file params
  • When not it watch mode AiderLoad without args can be used to /add the current file, or specify file args
• Ask questions about code with visual selection support
  • AiderAsk with a visual selection will prompt you for input and add the selected code to the prompt
• For diff viewing, accepting or rejecting changes:
  • Use diffview which can auto trigger after Aider makes changes (see below).
  • Use gitsigns to stage/view/undo/navigate hunks
• Supports switching to different repos and will maintain context per repo
• Telescope picker for selecting models :Telescope model_picker
  • Use model_picker_search = { "^anthropic/", "^openai/" } to specify which models to look for
• Integration with tokyonight theme

Prerequisites

• Neovim 0.5+
• Aider required bo to be installed and available in PATH (pip install aider-chat)
• akinsho/toggleterm.nvim is required for terminal management
• diffviewis optional but it is a great way to view Aider's changes, revert or undo them, see integration bellow
• fidget is optional but it is the recommended way to show Aider activity, see configuration bellow
• fzf-lua or Telescope (optional, for enhanced file selection)
• willothy/flatten.nvim (only if you want to use /editor command)

Installation

Using lazy.nvim

return {
  {
    "aweis89/aider.nvim",
    dependencies = {
       -- required for core functionality
      "akinsho/toggleterm.nvim",

       -- for fuzzy file `/add`ing functionality ("ibhagwan/fzf-lua" supported as well)
      "nvim-telescope/telescope.nvim",

      -- Optional, but great for diff viewing and after_update_hook integration
      "sindrets/diffview.nvim",

      -- Optional but great option for viewing Aider output
      "j-hui/fidget.nvim",

      -- Only if you care about using the /editor command
      "willothy/flatten.nvim",
    },
    lazy = false,
    opts = {
      -- Auto trigger diffview after Aider's file changes
      after_update_hook = function()
        require("diffview").open({ "HEAD^" })
      end,
      -- Customize how Aider output is viewed
      notify = function(...)
        require("fidget").notify(...)
      end,
    },
    keys = {
      {
        "<C-x>",
        "<cmd>AiderToggle<CR>",
        desc = "Toggle Aider",
        mode = { "i", "t", "n" },
      },
      {
        "<leader>as",
        "<cmd>AiderSpawn<CR>",
        desc = "Toggle Aidper (default)",
      },
      {
        "<leader>au",
        "<cmd>AiderSend /undo<CR>",
        desc = "Aider undo",
      },
      {
        "<leader>ams",
        "<cmd>AiderSend /model sonnet<CR>",
        desc = "Switch to sonnet",
      },
      {
        "<leader>amh",
        "<cmd>AiderSend /model haiku<CR>",
        desc = "Switch to haiku",
      },
      {
        "<leader>al",
        "<cmd>AiderLoad<CR>",
        desc = "Add file to aider",
      },
      {
        "<leader>ad",
        "<cmd>AiderAsk<CR>",
        desc = "Ask with selection",
        mode = { "v", "n" },
      },
    },
  },
}

Using Packer.nvim

require('packer').startup(function(use)
  use {
    "aweis89/aider.nvim",
    dependencies = {
      -- required for core functionality
      "akinsho/toggleterm.nvim",

      -- for fuzzy file `/add`ing functionality ("ibhagwan/fzf-lua" supported as well)
      "nvim-telescope/telescope.nvim",

      -- Optional, but great for diff viewing and after_update_hook integration
      "sindrets/diffview.nvim",

      -- Optional but great option for viewing Aider output
      "j-hui/fidget.nvim",

      -- Only if you care about using the /editor command
      "willothy/flatten.nvim",
    },
    config = function()
      require('aider').setup({
        -- Auto trigger diffview after Aider's file changes
        after_update_hook = function()
          require("diffview").open({ "HEAD^" })
        end,
        -- Customize how Aider output is viewed
        notify = function(...)
          require("fidget").notify(...)
        end,
      })

      -- Add keymaps
      local opts = { noremap = true, silent = true }
      vim.keymap.set('n', '<leader>as', '<cmd>AiderSpawn<CR>', vim.tbl_extend('force', opts, { desc = 'Toggle Aider (default)' }))
      vim.keymap.set('n', '<leader>au', '<cmd>AiderSend /undo<CR>', vim.tbl_extend('force', opts, { desc = 'Aider undo' }))
      vim.keymap.set({ 'i', 't', 'n' }, '<C-x>', '<cmd>AiderToggle<CR>', vim.tbl_extend('force', opts, { desc = 'Toggle Aider' }))
      vim.keymap.set('n', '<leader>al', '<cmd>AiderLoad<CR>', vim.tbl_extend('force', opts, { desc = 'Add file to aider' }))
      vim.keymap.set({ 'v', 'n' }, '<leader>ad', '<cmd>AiderAsk<CR>', vim.tbl_extend('force', opts, { desc = 'Ask with selection' }))
      vim.keymap.set('n', '<leader>ams', '<cmd>AiderSend /model sonnet<CR>', vim.tbl_extend('force', opts, { desc = 'Switch to sonnet' }))
      vim.keymap.set('n', '<leader>amh', '<cmd>AiderSend /model haiku<CR>', vim.tbl_extend('force', opts, { desc = 'Switch to haiku' }))
    end
  }
end)

Using vim-plug

call plug#begin()
Plug 'aweis89/aider.nvim'
Plug 'akinsho/toggleterm.nvim'
Plug 'nvim-telescope/telescope.nvim' -- for fuzzy file `/add`ing functionality
Plug 'sindrets/diffview.nvim' -- Optional, but great for diff viewing
Plug 'j-hui/fidget.nvim' -- Optional but great option for viewing Aider output
Plug 'willothy/flatten.nvim' -- Only if you care about using /editor command

lua << EOF
require('aider').setup({
  -- Auto trigger diffview after Aider's file changes
  after_update_hook = function()
    require("diffview").open({ "HEAD^" })
  end,
  -- Customize how Aider output is viewed
  notify = function(...)
    require("fidget").notify(...)
  end,
})

-- Add keymaps
vim.keymap.set('n', '<leader>as', '<cmd>AiderSpawn<CR>', { noremap = true, silent = true, desc = 'Toggle Aider (default)' })
vim.keymap.set('n', '<leader>au', '<cmd>AiderSend /undo<CR>', { noremap = true, silent = true, desc = 'Aider undo' })
vim.keymap.set({ 'i', 't', 'n' }, '<C-x>', '<cmd>AiderToggle<CR>', { noremap = true, silent = true, desc = 'Toggle Aider' })
vim.keymap.set('n', '<leader>al', '<cmd>AiderLoad<CR>', { noremap = true, silent = true, desc = 'Add file to aider' })
vim.keymap.set({ 'v', 'n' }, '<leader>ad', '<cmd>AiderAsk<CR>', { noremap = true, silent = true, desc = 'Ask with selection' })
vim.keymap.set('n', '<leader>ams', '<cmd>AiderSend /model sonnet<CR>', { noremap = true, silent = true, desc = 'Switch to sonnet' })
vim.keymap.set('n', '<leader>amh', '<cmd>AiderSend /model haiku<CR>', { noremap = true, silent = true, desc = 'Switch to haiku' })
EOF
call plug#end()

Commands

• :AiderToggle [direction] - Toggle the Aider terminal window. Optional direction can be:

  • vertical - Switch to vertical split
  • horizontal - Switch to horizontal split
  • float - Switch to floating window (default)
  • tab - Switch to new tab
  • When called without a direction argument, it opens in the to the last specified direction (or the toggleterm specified default). With a direction argument, it will switch the terminal to that layout (even if already open).

• :AiderLoad [files...] - Load files into Aider session, defaults to the current file when no args are specified

• :AiderAsk [prompt] - Ask a question about code using the /ask command. If no prompt is provided, it will open an input popup. In visual mode, the selected text is appended to the prompt.

• :AiderSend [command] - Send any command to Aider. In visual mode, the selected text is appended to the command.

FZF-lua Integration

When fzf-lua is installed, you can use Ctrl-l in the file picker to load files into Aider:

• Single file: Navigate to a file and press Ctrl-l to load it into Aider
• Multiple files: Use Shift-Tab to select multiple files, then press Ctrl-l to load all selected files
• The files will be automatically added to your current Aider session if one exists, or start a new session if none is active
  • If watch_mode is set (as per the default), the file will be added in the background, otherwise Aider will be brought to the foreground
• FZF also support a select-all behavior, which can be used to load all files matching a suffix for example

Telescope Integration

When Telescope is installed, you can use <C-l> load files into Aider:

• Current pickers with this registered action include: find_files, git_files, buffers and oldfiles
• Single file: Navigate to a file and press <C-l> to load it into Aider.
• Multiple files: Use multi-select to choose files (default ), then press <C-l> to load all selected files.
• The files will be automatically added to your current Aider session if one exists, or start a new session if none is active.
  • If watch_mode is set (as per the default), the file will be added in the background, otherwise Aider will be brought to the foreground

Configuration

The plugin can be configured during setup:

require('aider').setup({
  -- Enable the new `--watch-files` feature so Aider will auto respond to AI/AI! comments
  watch_files = true,

  -- Always start Aider so it's ready to react to your comments.
  -- Alternatively run `AiderSpawn` manually to start on-demand
  spawn_on_startup = true,

  -- Editor command to run when triggered via `/editor`.
  -- Defaults to using flatten plugin to trigger a none-nested neovim session
  editor_command = nil,

  -- Trigger key to run when in fzf-lua to `/add` selected file/s to Aider.
  fzf_action_key = "ctrl-l",
  -- Trigger key to run when in telescope to `/add` selected file/s to Aider.
  telescope_action_key = "<C-l>",

  -- Command used to notify on Aider activity.
  -- For a low-intrusive option that works great with Aider.nvim, try [fidget](https://github.com/j-hui/fidget.nvim)
  -- e.x. `notify = require("fidget").notify
  notify = vim.notify,

  -- Add additional args to aider as a table of strings
  -- e.x. `aider_args = {"--no-auto-commit"}` to disable auto git commits.
  aider_args = {},

  -- Add additional commands to run after Aider updates file/s.
  -- E.x. you can auto trigger diffs with the diffview plugin:
  -- `after_update_hook = function() require("diffview").open({'HEAD^'}) end`
  after_update_hook = nil,

  -- Specify which models to use for `Telescope model_picker` (should be valid lua regex)
  model_picker_search = { "^anthropic/", "^openai/", "^gemini/" },

  -- Always open terminal in insert mode
  auto_insert = true

  -- Whether to focus the terminal window when spawning Aider
  -- If false, Aider will run in the background
  focus_on_spawn = false,

  -- When CWD changes, restart aider
  -- Each terminal in indexed to current working director, so this is not required for multiple project support
  restart_on_chdir = false,

  -- Auto scroll the terminal on new output
  auto_scroll = false,

 -- Whether to enable aider `--dark-mode` can be boolean or function
 dark_mode = function()
  return vim.o.background == "dark"
 end,

  -- Function to run when term is initially opened
 on_term_open = function()
  local function tmap(key, val)
   local opt = { buffer = 0 }
   vim.keymap.set("t", key, val, opt)
  end
  -- exit insert mode
  tmap("<Esc>", "<C-\\><C-n>")
  tmap("jj", "<C-\\><C-n>")
  -- enter command mode
  tmap(":", "<C-\\><C-n>:")
  -- scrolling up/down
  tmap("<C-u>", "<C-\\><C-n><C-u>")
  tmap("<C-d>", "<C-\\><C-n><C-d>")
  -- remove line numbers
  vim.wo.number = false
  vim.wo.relativenumber = false
 end,

 win = {
   -- default direction when none specified, can be 'vertical' | 'horizontal' | 'tab' | 'float'
   direction = "float",

   -- specify a size for the horizontal or vertical
   size = function(term)
    if term.direction == "horizontal" then
     return math.floor(vim.api.nvim_win_get_height(0) * 0.4)
    elseif term.direction == "vertical" then
     return math.floor(vim.api.nvim_win_get_width(0) * 0.4)
    end
   end,
 },
})

Auto Dark Mode Detection

The plugin automatically sets the --dark-mode flag when Neovim's background option is set to "dark". This ensures aider's UI matches your Neovim theme.

License

MIT