--- name: aider-delegate description: Delegate coding tasks to Aider (`aider`) only when the user explicitly requests it, while the orchestrator retains review and landing responsibility. risk: critical category: agent-orchestration source: https://github.com/amElnagdy/delegate-skills source_repo: amElnagdy/delegate-skills source_type: community date_added: '2026-08-26' license: MIT license_source: https://github.com/amElnagdy/delegate-skills/blob/master/LICENSE compatibility: Requires the `aider` CLI (`python -m pip install aider-chat`), Node 18+, and git. Aider must be able to authenticate to a model before dispatch - export the provider key it expects (`OPENAI_API_KEY`, `ANTHROPIC_API_KEY`, …) or set it in Aider's own config; a local OpenAI-compatible endpoint still needs a non-empty `OPENAI_API_KEY`. The orchestrating agent must be able to run shell commands and read files. Shell examples assume bash/zsh (macOS/Linux, or Git Bash/WSL on Windows). metadata: version: 0.5.0 --- # Aider Delegate ## When to Use - You want to delegate a bounded coding task to a separate `aider` implementer (`Aider`) and then review its diff yourself. - The user explicitly asked for delegation to this implementer. You are the **orchestrator**. Hand a bounded coding task to a separate **implementer** - Aider - then review what it produced and land it yourself. You write the brief and own the judgment; Aider does the typing in its own run; you verify and commit. The loop needs only a shell command and file access, so any comparable orchestrator can drive it. ## Runtime availability and authorization This tracked bundle has documentation only: scripts/relay.mjs is absent. Do not run the documented path or automatically install it/Aider. Use an already reviewed installed runtime, or stop that execution path and prepare a separately authorized pinned installation. CLI flags/defaults and result semantics below describe an upstream version, not locally verified behavior. Review actual runtime/config/hooks before dispatch. Delegation sends selected code, brief and repository context to the configured provider; confirm the intended endpoint/data policy and cost limit. Use a non-secret placeholder only for a trusted local endpoint that ignores credentials, never send a real provider key to an arbitrary api-base. Logs/history can retain private code and keys; protect paths and retention. Disable or review repository lint/test commands before execution. A dry run can still write history/cache and incur model costs. The orchestrator retains publication/commit authority from the actual task; this skill alone does not grant it. ## The one thing to know about Aider **Aider commits by default.** Two of its defaults would destroy the reviewable diff this skill exists to produce: - `--auto-commits` (default `True`) - Aider commits its own edits after each exchange. - `--dirty-commits` (default `True`) - Aider commits **your** pre-existing uncommitted work before it starts editing. The relay always passes `--no-auto-commits` and `--no-dirty-commits`, and neither is configurable through it. If you ever drive `aider` by hand instead of through the relay, pass both yourself, or the work lands as commits you never reviewed. The relay also passes `--no-gitignore`, because Aider otherwise writes `.aider*` into `.gitignore` on startup and dirties the tree you are about to read. ## When NOT to use this - The task is small enough to do inline; delegation overhead is not worth it. - The `aider` CLI is not installed, or no model is configured for it. - You want the implementer to manage its own commits. Aider can, but this skill deliberately turns that off - the diff is the deliverable. ## Prerequisites (check once) 1. Install Aider - `python -m pip install aider-chat`, or the standalone installer from the [Aider install docs](https://aider.chat/docs/install.html). 2. Configure a model. Aider reads provider keys from the environment (`OPENAI_API_KEY`, `ANTHROPIC_API_KEY`, …) or its own config; see [Aider's model docs](https://aider.chat/docs/llms.html). 3. Confirm `aider --version` succeeds. 4. Work in, or point `--cd` at, the target git repository. ## Choose the model Aider uses its own configured model when `--model` is omitted. Pass `--model ` to pick another. ## Local and self-hosted models Aider talks to any OpenAI-compatible endpoint, so this is also the skill for delegating to a model running on the user's own hardware - llama.cpp's server, Ollama, vLLM, LM Studio, or anything else that serves the same API. Pair `--model` with `--api-base`: ```bash node "/scripts/relay.mjs" --brief brief.txt --cd /path/to/repo \ --model openai/ --api-base http://127.0.0.1:/v1 ``` Three things differ from a hosted provider: - **The `openai/` prefix is required.** It tells Aider to speak the OpenAI protocol to your endpoint; the part after it is whatever name your server reports, not a provider catalog name. - **A placeholder key is still needed.** Export any non-empty `OPENAI_API_KEY`. The client library requires the header even when the server ignores its value. - **Ask for a smaller edit format.** Local models often fail Aider's default `diff` format, which requires exact search/replace blocks. `--edit-format whole` trades tokens for reliability; keep the brief's scope tight with `--file` so whole-file rewrites stay cheap. A local endpoint that is not running looks like a hang, not an error: Aider retries the connection until the relay's `--timeout` watchdog fires and reports `status: "timeout"`. Confirm the server is up before dispatching a long brief. ### Staying offline The listed flags reduce known automatic requests; they do not prove offline operation. Model requests, repository config/lint/hooks and dependencies may still use the network. Enforce egress outside the child when offline behavior is required. No account or provider registration is involved: Aider is a pip install, the endpoint is yours, and `OPENAI_API_KEY` only has to be non-empty. The relay pins the flags that would otherwise reach the network on their own - `--no-check-update`, `--no-analytics` (Aider's own default is `random`, which opts some sessions in by itself), and `--no-detect-urls`, without which Aider offers to scrape any URL in the brief and `--yes-always` accepts that offer silently. `--no-suggest-shell-commands` closes the remaining path by which a run could reach the network without being asked to. What stays outside the relay's control is the brief itself: instructions that tell Aider to install a package or call an API will still be carried out, and `--auto-lint` runs the repository's own tooling. Offline here means nothing in the dispatch path reaches out on its own - not that a sandbox is stopping it. ## The loop Run these five steps per task. Steps 1, 4, and 5 require judgment; 2 and 3 are mechanical. ### 1. Write the brief Aider sees only the text you send plus the files in its editing scope - no chat history or shared context. Include the goal, current state, what to change, what to leave untouched, the project's **actual** gates, and a report contract. Keep one task per brief. See [references/writing-the-brief.md](references/writing-the-brief.md). ### 2. Dispatch Use the bundled helper. It wraps Aider's headless `--message-file` mode, captures the run, and writes `result.json`. (`` is the installed folder containing this `SKILL.md`.) ```bash node "/scripts/relay.mjs" --brief brief.txt --cd /path/to/repo # choose a model: add --model # point at an OpenAI-compatible server: add --api-base # scope the edit surface: add --file (repeatable), --read for context only # dry run, no files modified: add --read-only # continue the previous chat: add --resume-last (delta brief only) # hard time limit (watchdog): add --timeout 2h (the 30m default suits short runs; implementation briefs routinely need 1-2h) # see all options: node .../relay.mjs --help ``` The child process's cwd pins the workspace. The brief is delivered with `--message-file`, so it never rides argv: it stays out of the host process list and clear of the OS argument size cap. The relay writes artifacts under the system temp dir by default and never commits. See [references/dispatch-and-poll.md](references/dispatch-and-poll.md). ### 3. Wait for completion The helper blocks until Aider finishes. Run it with the orchestrator's background-command facility, or background it in the shell and poll for `result.json`. A pre-run usage error exits 2 and writes no result; a missing `aider` exits 127 and writes `status: "aider_unavailable"`. Trust process state and the working tree over a progress display. Completion means the process exited and `result.json` exists. Aider's report is the `finalMessage` field in `result.json` (also printed in full on stdout between the report markers). Aider exits 0 even when it never reached a model, so the relay scans the run for Aider's own endpoint and authentication errors and reports `status: "failed"` when it finds one. Treat a `failed` status with an `error` mentioning the endpoint as a configuration problem, not a coding failure. ### 4. Review - do not trust the self-report Treat Aider's final message and gate claims as claims: - Re-run the project's gates yourself. - Read the diff against the brief, starting with `touchedFiles`. - Run relevant guard skills if installed. - Round-trip migrations and grep for dangling references after removals or renames. Aider's `--auto-lint` is on by default, so it may have already run a linter and fixed its own complaints. That is Aider's lint, not your gates - run yours anyway. See [references/review-and-land.md](references/review-and-land.md). ### 5. Land it The implementer edits the working tree; **the orchestrator commits.** Commit only after the gates pass and the diff holds. If rework is needed, send a delta brief with `--resume-last`, then review again. ## Autonomy and permissions The relay passes `--yes-always`, Aider's own term for auto-confirming every prompt, because a headless run cannot answer one. **Understand what that consents to in advance.** Auto-confirmation applies to every prompt Aider would otherwise raise, and Aider's prompts are not limited to file edits: left at its defaults it also offers to run shell commands it has suggested, and `--yes-always` would accept those with nobody reading them. The relay therefore pins `--no-suggest-shell-commands`, which removes that path. What remains is not a sandbox, and nothing here pretends otherwise. Aider has no permission modes and no isolation: within its file scope it edits freely, and `--auto-lint` (on by default) runs whatever linter the repository configures. A brief that tells Aider to run a command still gets a command run. Delegation is the authorization; if a run must not be able to touch the host, run it in a configured container/VM with restricted mounts, credentials and egress. A throwaway worktree alone shares host access and cannot enforce that boundary. **File selection is not a security boundary.** `--file`, `--read`, and `--subtree-only` set what Aider puts in its chat context, which is a scoping and token-cost decision. They do not confine what it can reach. See [references/writing-the-brief.md](references/writing-the-brief.md). `--read-only` maps to Aider's `--dry-run`, which performs the run without modifying files. The relay does not independently verify that claim - it reports what `git status --porcelain` shows and warns if a `--read-only` run left the tree changed. `touchedFiles` and the diff are partial observations; compare HEAD, index and untracked/ignored outputs too. They are not an isolation guarantee. ## Resume Aider has no session ids. Its resume unit is the chat history file it keeps in the repository (`.aider.chat.history.md`), so `--resume-last` maps to Aider's `--restore-chat-history` and `--history-file` pins a specific one. Because that history lives in the repo, resume is per-worktree, not per-user: two clones of the same project do not share it. ## Authorization model Delegation is something the human opts into. Once they have ("run this queue", "proceed"), committing verified, gate-passing work is the agreed contract. Two limits remain: **surface, don't absorb** (report Aider's design decisions, defensible-but-unasked turns, and non-blocking nitpicks) and **stop for scope changes** (if correct completion needs going beyond the brief, ask instead of expanding the mandate). See [references/review-and-land.md](references/review-and-land.md). ## References - [references/writing-the-brief.md](references/writing-the-brief.md) - structure, report contract, real gates, file scope, and delta briefs. - [references/dispatch-and-poll.md](references/dispatch-and-poll.md) - flags, artifacts, `result.json`, polling, and failure recovery. - [references/review-and-land.md](references/review-and-land.md) - review checklist, the commit boundary, and rework through Aider's chat history. - [references/multi-task-queues.md](references/multi-task-queues.md) - sequential queues, constraint carry-forward, progress tracking, and the final coherence pass. ## Limitations - Docs-only import — executable `scripts/relay.mjs` not included; see upstream for full runtime. Requires `aider` CLI, Node 18+, git. - Relay never commits — it only returns structured result JSON; you review and land the commit. > Adapted from [amElnagdy/delegate-skills](https://github.com/amElnagdy/delegate-skills) (MIT) — docs-only, runtime not bundled. --- Source attribution: amElnagdy/delegate-skills contributors, via Agentic Awesome Skills Original project: https://github.com/amElnagdy/delegate-skills License: MIT + CC-BY-4.0 License information: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Original upstream instructions; downloaded from Mega AI Hub. ## Upstream license notice MIT License Copyright (c) 2026 Ahmed Mohammed (amElnagdy) Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions: The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software. 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