Skills for Aider

What is Aider?

Aider is an open-source AI pair programmer that runs in your terminal and edits code directly through git, working with most leading LLMs. It doesn't have a skills directory — instead it loads guidance from read-only context files (conventions), which is exactly how a SKILL.md plugs in.

How to install a skill on Aider

• Find a skill in the catalog or filter by your use case.
• Download its SKILL.md.
• Start Aider with aider --read path/to/SKILL.md — the skill's guidance loads as always-on context.
• To make it permanent, add the path to the read: list in .aider.conf.yml.
• Stack multiple skills by passing --read more than once.

Compatibility notes

Aider treats a SKILL.md as a read-only convention/context file, so the markdown body is what guides the model. Notes:

• There's no frontmatter parsing — the YAML header is read as text, so guidance-style and convention-style skills transfer best.
• Skills that ship executable scripts/ don't auto-run; Aider focuses on editing code, not orchestrating tools. Port the intent into instructions.
• Keep read-files focused — everything in --read stays in context for the whole session.