Aider Models API

openapi: 3.0.3
info:
  title: Aider CLI Chat Models 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: Models
  description: Aider Commands That Switch or Query LLM Models.
paths:
  /commands/model:
    post:
      operationId: switchMainModel
      summary: Aider Switch Main Model
      description: Switch the Main Model to a new LLM. Maps to `/model`.
      tags:
      - Models
      requestBody:
        required: true
        content:
          application/json:
            schema:
              $ref: '#/components/schemas/ModelSelection'
      responses:
        '200':
          description: Main model switched.
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/CommandResult'
      x-microcks-operation:
        delay: 0
        dispatcher: FALLBACK
  /commands/weak-model:
    post:
      operationId: switchWeakModel
      summary: Aider Switch Weak Model
      description: Switch the Weak Model used for commit messages and summarization. Maps to `/weak-model`.
      tags:
      - Models
      requestBody:
        required: true
        content:
          application/json:
            schema:
              $ref: '#/components/schemas/ModelSelection'
      responses:
        '200':
          description: Weak model switched.
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/CommandResult'
      x-microcks-operation:
        delay: 0
        dispatcher: FALLBACK
  /commands/editor-model:
    post:
      operationId: switchEditorModel
      summary: Aider Switch Editor Model
      description: Switch the Editor Model used by architect mode to apply file edits. Maps to `/editor-model`.
      tags:
      - Models
      requestBody:
        required: true
        content:
          application/json:
            schema:
              $ref: '#/components/schemas/ModelSelection'
      responses:
        '200':
          description: Editor model switched.
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/CommandResult'
      x-microcks-operation:
        delay: 0
        dispatcher: FALLBACK
  /commands/models:
    get:
      operationId: listAvailableModels
      summary: Aider List Available Models
      description: Search the list of available models. Maps to `/models`.
      tags:
      - Models
      parameters:
      - name: query
        in: query
        required: false
        description: Substring filter applied to model identifiers.
        schema:
          type: string
        example: claude
      responses:
        '200':
          description: Matching models returned.
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/ModelCatalog'
      x-microcks-operation:
        delay: 0
        dispatcher: FALLBACK
components:
  schemas:
    CommandResult:
      type: object
      properties:
        ok:
          type: boolean
          example: true
        message:
          type: string
          example: Files added to chat.
    ModelCatalog:
      type: object
      properties:
        models:
          type: array
          description: Model identifiers matching the search query.
          items:
            type: object
            properties:
              id:
                type: string
                example: anthropic/claude-opus-4
              provider:
                type: string
                example: anthropic
              context_window:
                type: integer
                example: 200000
              supports_edit_format:
                type: array
                items:
                  type: string
                  example: diff
                example:
                - diff
                - udiff
          example:
          - id: anthropic/claude-opus-4
            provider: anthropic
            context_window: 200000
            supports_edit_format:
            - diff
            - udiff
    ModelSelection:
      type: object
      required:
      - model
      properties:
        model:
          type: string
          description: LiteLLM-style model identifier or one of aider's built-in aliases.
          example: anthropic/claude-opus-4
  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.