Aider’s Early Coding Assistant: Snake and an Existing Rails Project

Matthew Berman introduces Aider, a terminal-based coding assistant created by Paul Gauthier, in July 2023. He is interested in its ability to propose and iterate on code, show changes and work within an existing Git repository. The video shows small examples rather than a broad evaluation of large-project reliability.

He describes the version he is using as supporting GPT-4 and GPT-3.5 and says he hopes for open-model support in future. That reflects the 2023 release; available models and integration options have since changed. The assistant itself may be available without a software fee, but hosted model API calls can incur charges.

On his Mac, Berman creates and activates a Conda environment with Python 3.11.3, then exports an OpenAI API key and says he will revoke the demonstration key. The video description corrects an omitted step: installing Aider with pip install aider-chat or the repository requirements. These are historical instructions, not a verified current installation guide.

Berman introduces Universal Ctags as an optional aid for a large codebase. In the early version he demonstrates, it helps create a compact repository map of symbols and structure. A token-limited map is a selection or summary, not the entire codebase or a guarantee that the model understands all relevant context.

He shows installing Universal Ctags with Homebrew and checking its version. This is the workflow in the recording; Aider later described replacing the original Ctags-based repository map with a tree-sitter-based approach, so the old dependency should not be assumed necessary for current versions.

Berman creates a new folder and starts Aider with snake.py. The screen says no Git repository is present and the repository map is disabled. He asks for a Python Snake game; the assistant proposes code using curses, and he runs the resulting game successfully in this single demonstration.

He asks the assistant to add a score showing how many pieces of food the snake has eaten. Aider displays and applies the change, and Berman runs the game again to show the score. This is one example of iterative editing and a manual check, not a comprehensive game test.

Next he asks to replace the food symbol with the number eight. On testing, he observes that the first food item still uses the original symbol while later ones use eight. He notes that another iteration could address it; the initial change did not fully satisfy the request.

Berman shows in-chat commands for adding or dropping files, viewing differences and committing, then exits and opens his existing Ruby on Rails project. This time the terminal recognizes a Git repository and shows a Universal Ctags repository map with a 1,024-token budget.

He asks Aider to upgrade Sidekiq to the latest version. The assistant requests access to the Gemfile, proposes a constraint and discusses updating Gemfile.lock with Bundler. The screen shows version 6.3.1; RubyGems had published Sidekiq 7.1.0 in May 2023, so the suggestion was not demonstrably the latest at the time.

Berman appreciates that the assistant recognizes the lockfile is generated by Bundler instead of simply editing it by hand. The demonstration shows a suggested workflow, not a completed, verified dependency upgrade or compatibility test. He concludes that Aider could help him continue iterating on existing projects.