--- title: Aider with AI Gateway product: vercel url: /docs/ai-gateway/coding-agents/aider canonical_url: "https://vercel.com/docs/ai-gateway/coding-agents/aider" last_updated: 2026-09-13 type: how-to prerequisites: - /docs/ai-gateway/coding-agents - /docs/ai-gateway related: - /docs/cli/ai-gateway - /docs/ai-gateway/observability-and-spend/observability - /docs/ai-gateway/sdks-and-apis/openai-chat-completions - /docs/ai-gateway/observability-and-spend/budgets summary: Connect Aider to AI Gateway with the Vercel CLI or an OpenAI-compatible base URL, API key, and model metadata. install_vercel_plugin: npx plugins add vercel/vercel-plugin --- # Aider with AI Gateway [Aider](https://aider.chat) is an open-source, terminal-based AI pair programming tool that edits code in your local git repository. You can configure it to use AI Gateway for unified model access and spend monitoring. ## Related pages > **For AI agents:** Follow these links to understand how this page connects to the rest of the Vercel ecosystem. For the full cross-link map (inbound, outbound, prerequisites, and semantic neighbors), see the .graph.md link below. - [AI Gateway](https://vercel.com/docs/agent-resources/vercel-mcp/tools/ai-gateway?from=related&source_path=%2Fdocs%2Fai-gateway%2Fcoding-agents%2Faider&source_site=vercel-docs&relationship=related) — Vercel MCP tools for ai gateway. - [Deep Agents CLI with AI Gateway](https://vercel.com/docs/ai-gateway/coding-agents/deepagents?from=related&source_path=%2Fdocs%2Fai-gateway%2Fcoding-agents%2Faider&source_site=vercel-docs&relationship=related) — Connect Deep Agents CLI to AI Gateway with the Vercel CLI or a TOML provider and model profiles. - [Continue CLI with AI Gateway](https://vercel.com/docs/ai-gateway/coding-agents/continue?from=related&source_path=%2Fdocs%2Fai-gateway%2Fcoding-agents%2Faider&source_site=vercel-docs&relationship=related) — Connect Continue CLI to AI Gateway with the Vercel CLI or a YAML model configuration that reads your API key from the en - [ZCode with AI Gateway](https://vercel.com/docs/ai-gateway/coding-agents/zcode?from=related&source_path=%2Fdocs%2Fai-gateway%2Fcoding-agents%2Faider&source_site=vercel-docs&relationship=related) — Connect ZCode to AI Gateway with the Vercel CLI or an OpenAI-compatible custom provider. - [Getting Started with AI Gateway](https://vercel.com/docs/ai-gateway/getting-started?from=related&source_path=%2Fdocs%2Fai-gateway%2Fcoding-agents%2Faider&source_site=vercel-docs&relationship=related) — Set up AI Gateway with a coding agent, route the agent through AI Gateway, or make your first request with cURL, TypeScr Full cross-link map for this page: [/docs/ai-gateway/coding-agents/aider.graph.md](/docs/ai-gateway/coding-agents/aider.graph.md?from=related&source_path=%2Fdocs%2Fai-gateway%2Fcoding-agents%2Faider&source_site=vercel-docs&relationship=graph) ## Set up with the Vercel CLI Run the [Vercel CLI setup command](/docs/cli/ai-gateway#setup) for Aider: ```bash filename="terminal" npx vercel ai-gateway setup --agent aider ``` The command writes the gateway base URL and a default model into `~/.aider.conf.yml`, registers the gateway's models in `.aider.model.metadata.json` and `.aider.model.settings.yml` so Aider knows their context windows, and exports `AIDER_OPENAI_API_KEY` from a managed block in your shell startup file. Re-run it to refresh the model registrations. ## Configuring Aider If you can't use the Vercel CLI, configure Aider manually: - ### Create an API key Go to the [**AI Gateway**](https://vercel.com/d?to=%2F%5Bteam%5D%2F%7E%2Fai-gateway\&title=Go+to+AI+Gateway) section in the Vercel dashboard sidebar and click **API keys** to create a new API key. - ### Export the key Aider reads its OpenAI-compatible key from `AIDER_OPENAI_API_KEY`. Export it in your shell: ```bash filename="Terminal" export AIDER_OPENAI_API_KEY="your-ai-gateway-api-key" ``` To persist the key, add the same line to your shell's startup file. - ### Point Aider at the gateway Add the gateway base URL and a default model to `~/.aider.conf.yml`: ```yaml filename="~/.aider.conf.yml" openai-api-base: https://ai-gateway.vercel.sh/coding-agent/v1 model: openai/openai/gpt-6-astra ``` The `openai/` prefix is what routes the model ID through `openai-api-base`, so the model value is `openai/` followed by the gateway's `creator/model-name` slug. `openai/openai/gpt-6-astra` means the gateway model `openai/gpt-6-astra`. - ### Register model metadata Aider has no built-in catalog entries for prefixed IDs, so it falls back to small default context windows. Register the gateway's models in `.aider.model.metadata.json` next to your config file: ```json filename="~/.aider.model.metadata.json" { "openai/openai/gpt-6-astra": { "max_input_tokens": 1050000, "litellm_provider": "openai", "mode": "chat" } } ``` Then set the diff edit format in `.aider.model.settings.yml`: ```yaml filename="~/.aider.model.settings.yml" - name: openai/openai/gpt-6-astra edit_format: diff use_repo_map: true ``` The [Vercel CLI](/docs/cli/ai-gateway#setup) generates both files from the gateway's live catalog, including context windows and per-token pricing, and drops models without size data. - ### Start Aider ```bash filename="Terminal" aider ``` Switch models with `/model` in a session or on the command line: ```bash filename="Terminal" aider --model openai/anthropic/claude-sonnet-5 ``` ### Monitor usage and spend View your usage, spend, and request activity in the [**AI Gateway**](https://vercel.com/d?to=%2F%5Bteam%5D%2F%7E%2Fai-gateway\&title=Go+to+AI+Gateway) section in the Vercel dashboard sidebar. See the [observability documentation](/docs/ai-gateway/observability-and-spend/observability) for more details. ## Environment variables | Variable | Description | | ----------------------- | -------------------------------------------------- | | `AIDER_OPENAI_API_KEY` | Your AI Gateway API key. Required | | `OPENAI_API_BASE` | Not used. Aider takes the base URL from `openai-api-base` in `~/.aider.conf.yml` | > **💡 Note:** Aider calls AI Gateway through the [OpenAI-compatible Chat Completions > API](/docs/ai-gateway/sdks-and-apis/openai-chat-completions), so any model > that supports Chat Completions works. ## Next steps - Browse the [models catalog](/ai-gateway/models) for available models - Configure [spend limits](/docs/ai-gateway/observability-and-spend/budgets) on your API key - Read the [Aider documentation](https://aider.chat/docs/) for editor and git workflow options --- [View full sitemap](/docs/sitemap)