aider-client

An unofficial minimal Node.js / TypeScript wrapper around the Aider CLI. Lets you run prompts, capture output, and inspect or commit changes programmatically.

🧩 What it does

• Runs the Aider CLI as a child process from Node
• Streams progress output
• Parses commits and file diffs
• Optionally executes safe shell suggestions returned by Aider
• Works with Git repositories — no temporary clones or extra setup

You still need Aider installed locally (pip install aider-chat) and accessible in your PATH.

⚙️ Installation

bun add aider-client
# or
npm install aider-client

Requirements

• Node ≥ 18 (or Bun / Deno)
• A working Git repository (git init in your project)
• The Aider CLI installed and available as aider

If Aider isn’t on your PATH, pass its full path in aiderPath.

🚀 Quick start

import { AiderClient } from "aider-client";


const aider = new AiderClient({
  // aiderPath: "aider",          // optional: path to aider binary
  // cwd: "/path/to/repo",        // optional: repo root
  model: "gpt-4o",             // optional
});

const result = await aider.runPrompt(
  "Overwrite a.txt with the text 'HELLO WORLD'.",
  {
    autoCommits: true,
    yesAlways: true,
  }
);

console.log(result.output);
console.log(result.commit);
console.log(result.changes);

💬 Handling shell suggestions

When Aider returns shell commands inside its JSON markers:

<<<AIDER_SHELL_JSON>>>
{"shellCommands":[["rm","old.txt"],["mv","foo.txt","bar.txt"]]}
<<<END_AIDER_SHELL_JSON>>>

the client can execute them automatically with a safe allow-list:

await aider.runPrompt("Delete old.txt", {
  execShellSuggestions: { allow: ["rm", "mv"] },
});

Only the allowed commands will run, within the current repository. Disallowed or unsafe commands are skipped.

🧪 Testing

Run the suite (requires an OpenAI key and Aider installed):

npm test
# or
bun test

Each integration test sets up a temporary Git repo, runs Aider, and verifies file changes and commits.

📦 Publishing notes

This package ships as TypeScript source (src/ only). Bun, Deno, and modern TypeScript runtimes import it directly—no build step needed.

If you prefer precompiled JS, you can tsc into dist/ and point "main" there instead.

🧪 License

MIT © 2025 Not affiliated with the official Aider project.