MatthewZMD/aidermacs

AI Pair Programming in Emacs with Aider

What it solves

Aidermacs integrates the Aider AI pair programming tool directly into the Emacs editor. It allows developers who prefer Emacs to access AI-powered coding capabilities—similar to those found in AI-native IDEs like Cursor—without leaving their existing workflow.

How it works

Aidermacs acts as a bridge between Emacs and the Aider CLI. It provides a transient menu system (similar to Magit) for managing AI sessions, adding files to the AI's context, and executing specific code actions. It supports multiple terminal backends (comint or vterm) and integrates with Emacs' built-in Ediff for reviewing AI-generated changes. It also supports remote development via Tramp.

Who it’s for

Emacs users who want a powerful AI pair programmer integrated into their editor, specifically those who use Aider or want an alternative to AI-centric IDEs.

Highlights

  • Transient Menu Interface: A Magit-like menu for fast session management and code actions.
  • Architect Mode: Supports a dual-model approach using a specialized reasoning model (Architect) and a generation model (Editor) for higher quality results.
  • Ediff Integration: Built-in support for reviewing and accepting/rejecting AI changes via diffs.
  • Dynamic Model Selection: Automatically detects and integrates models from providers like OpenAI, Anthropic, DeepSeek, and Google Gemini.
  • Remote Support: Full compatibility with Emacs Tramp for working on remote servers via SSH or Docker.
  • Linguistic Triggers: Ability to watch files for specific comments (e.g., AI!) to trigger AI actions (vterm mode only).