Aider Files API

openapi: 3.0.3
info:
  title: Aider CLI Chat Files API
  version: 0.86.1
  description: Documentation surface for the Aider command-line interface. Aider has no hosted REST API and does not bind to a network port — it runs entirely in a developer's terminal against the local Git working tree. This OpenAPI document models the Aider command surface as if it were a REST API so it can be consumed by API-centric tooling (catalogs, registries, governance rule engines, capability runtimes). Each slash command (`/add`, `/diff`, `/commit`, etc.) is modeled as a path; each launch-flag family is modeled as a configuration path. Servers and security blocks are placeholders — aider's actual security model is "use the user's local shell credentials and the LLM provider API key in the environment."
  contact:
    name: Aider Maintainers
    url: https://github.com/Aider-AI/aider/issues
  license:
    name: Apache 2.0
    url: https://github.com/Aider-AI/aider/blob/main/LICENSE.txt
  x-generated-from: documentation
  x-last-validated: '2026-05-30'
  x-source-urls:
  - https://aider.chat/docs/usage/commands.html
  - https://aider.chat/docs/usage/modes.html
  - https://aider.chat/docs/config/options.html
  - https://aider.chat/docs/llms.html
servers:
- url: cli://aider
  description: Local CLI invocation (not a network endpoint). Modeled as URI scheme `cli://aider` for catalog tooling.
- url: file:///usr/local/bin/aider
  description: Typical install path for the `aider` entrypoint.
security:
- LLMProviderKey: []
tags:
- name: Files
  description: Aider Commands That Manage Files in the Chat Session.
paths:
  /commands/add:
    post:
      operationId: addFiles
      summary: Aider Add Files to Chat
      description: Add files to the chat so aider can edit them or review them in detail. Maps to the `/add` in-chat command.
      tags:
      - Files
      requestBody:
        required: true
        content:
          application/json:
            schema:
              $ref: '#/components/schemas/AddFilesRequest'
      responses:
        '200':
          description: Files added to chat context.
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/CommandResult'
        '400':
          description: Invalid file paths or unsupported file type.
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorResponse'
      x-microcks-operation:
        delay: 0
        dispatcher: FALLBACK
  /commands/drop:
    post:
      operationId: dropFiles
      summary: Aider Drop Files From Chat
      description: Remove files from the chat session to free up context space. Maps to the `/drop` in-chat command.
      tags:
      - Files
      requestBody:
        required: false
        content:
          application/json:
            schema:
              $ref: '#/components/schemas/DropFilesRequest'
      responses:
        '200':
          description: Files dropped.
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/CommandResult'
      x-microcks-operation:
        delay: 0
        dispatcher: FALLBACK
  /commands/read-only:
    post:
      operationId: addReadOnlyFiles
      summary: Aider Add Read-Only Files
      description: Add files for reference only or convert added files to read-only. Maps to the `/read-only` in-chat command.
      tags:
      - Files
      requestBody:
        required: true
        content:
          application/json:
            schema:
              $ref: '#/components/schemas/AddFilesRequest'
      responses:
        '200':
          description: Read-only files added.
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/CommandResult'
      x-microcks-operation:
        delay: 0
        dispatcher: FALLBACK
  /commands/ls:
    get:
      operationId: listFiles
      summary: Aider List Files in Session
      description: List all known files and indicate which are in the chat session. Maps to the `/ls` in-chat command.
      tags:
      - Files
      responses:
        '200':
          description: File listing returned.
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/FileListing'
      x-microcks-operation:
        delay: 0
        dispatcher: FALLBACK
components:
  schemas:
    AddFilesRequest:
      type: object
      required:
      - files
      properties:
        files:
          type: array
          description: List of file paths relative to the Git working tree root.
          items:
            type: string
            example: src/main.py
          example:
          - src/main.py
          - tests/test_main.py
        read_only:
          type: boolean
          description: When true, files are added as read-only references and excluded from edit targets.
          default: false
          example: false
    DropFilesRequest:
      type: object
      properties:
        files:
          type: array
          description: List of file paths to remove from chat context. Omit to drop all files.
          items:
            type: string
            example: src/legacy.py
          example:
          - src/legacy.py
    FileListing:
      type: object
      properties:
        in_chat:
          type: array
          description: Files currently included in the chat session.
          items:
            type: string
            example: src/main.py
          example:
          - src/main.py
          - tests/test_main.py
        known:
          type: array
          description: All files visible to the repository map.
          items:
            type: string
            example: src/util.py
          example:
          - src/util.py
          - src/io.py
    CommandResult:
      type: object
      properties:
        ok:
          type: boolean
          example: true
        message:
          type: string
          example: Files added to chat.
    ErrorResponse:
      type: object
      properties:
        code:
          type: string
          example: invalid_request
        message:
          type: string
          example: One or more file paths could not be resolved.
  securitySchemes:
    LLMProviderKey:
      type: apiKey
      in: header
      name: X-Provider-API-Key
      description: Placeholder for documentation purposes. Aider does not authenticate with an "aider API"; it reads the relevant upstream provider key (ANTHROPIC_API_KEY, OPENAI_API_KEY, etc.) from the local environment and passes it to the chosen LLM provider directly.