Integrations · AI Clients

Aider

Aider supports MCP via a CLI flag or ~/.aider.conf.yml. Works in terminal — no IDE required.

Quick start — CLI flag

Pass the MCP server as a flag when starting Aider:

terminal

aider --mcp-server "npx -y @useconductor/conductor"

Persistent config — .aider.conf.yml

Add to ~/.aider.conf.yml so Conductor starts every time:

~/.aider.conf.yml

## ~/.aider.conf.yml
mcp-server: "npx -y @useconductor/conductor"

with env vars

## ~/.aider.conf.yml
mcp-server: "npx -y @useconductor/conductor"
env:
  GITHUB_TOKEN: "ghp_your_token"
  CONDUCTOR_LOG_LEVEL: "info"

multiple MCP servers

## Multiple MCP servers
mcp-servers:
  - "npx -y @useconductor/conductor"
  - "npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-brave-search"

Aider version requirements

MCP support addedAider v0.50.0+

Check your versionaider --version

Updatepip install --upgrade aider-chat

Node.js requiredNode 18+ must be installed for npx to work

Troubleshooting

"Unknown option: --mcp-server"

Update Aider: pip install --upgrade aider-chat. MCP support was added in v0.50.0.

MCP starts but Aider doesn't use tools

Aider uses MCP tools when the task clearly benefits from them. Be explicit: '/run list the files in src/' or reference a specific tool in your message.

npx hangs at startup

First run downloads the package. If it hangs, check npm connectivity: npm ping. Or install globally first: npm install -g @useconductor/conductor.

Conductor starts but shows no tools

Plugin config error at startup. Run conductor doctor in a separate terminal to check.

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