Creativity · MCP — client

Aider as an MCP-Compatible Client

Aider is a command-line AI pair programmer that edits code directly in your git repo. Since its 2025 releases, Aider can act as an MCP client — you configure MCP servers in a YAML config and their tools become available inside Aider sessions alongside its built-in /add, /commit, and diff-editing workflows.

MCP facts

Kind: client
Ecosystem: anthropic-mcp
Language: Python
Transports: stdio

Capabilities

Spawns stdio MCP servers and exposes their tools during chat
Preserves Aider's native diff / commit / undo workflow
Per-project .aider.conf.yml lets you version-control MCP setup

Install

pip install aider-chat

Configuration

# .aider.conf.yml
mcp-server:
  - name: filesystem
    command: npx
    args:
      - -y
      - '@modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem'
      - /Users/you/projects
  - name: github
    command: npx
    args: ['-y', '@modelcontextprotocol/server-github']
    env:
      GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN: ${GH_TOKEN}

Frequently asked questions

Does Aider implement the full MCP spec?

It supports stdio MCP servers, tools, and prompts in recent builds. Resources and sampling support varies by release — check the changelog for your version.

Can Aider use multiple models?

Yes. Aider wraps any OpenAI-compatible, Anthropic, or local endpoint. MCP tools are offered to whatever model the current session uses, assuming that model supports tool calls.

Is it open source?

Yes — Apache 2.0. github.com/Aider-AI/aider. You can inspect or fork the MCP integration code directly.

Sources

Aider docs — accessed 2026-04-20
Aider GitHub — accessed 2026-04-20