--- parent: Usage nav_order: 901 description: Use aider to edit configuration files, documentation, and other text-based formats. --- # Editing config & text files Aider isn't just for code, it can be very helpful when editing almost any text file. You can use aider to make changes to your shell & ssh settings, Dockerfiles or pretty much any configuration or documentation file. Here are some practical examples of modifying common config/text files: ## Shell Configuration

$ aider .bashrc Added .bashrc to the chat. #### Add an alias 'll' that lists all files, with all details in human readable format. And update PATH to include uv installed tools. ``` + alias ll='ls -alh' + export PATH="$PATH:$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH" ```

## SSH Configurations

$ aider ~/.ssh/config Added config to the chat. #### Create a Host entry 'my-server' using bastion.example.com as JumpHost ``` + Host my-server + HostName 192.168.1.100 + User deploy + Port 2222 + IdentityFile ~/.ssh/deploy_key + ProxyJump bastion.example.com ```

## Docker Setup

$ aider Dockerfile docker-compose.yml Added Dockerfile and docker-compose.yml to the chat. #### Set non-root user and enable healthchecks ``` + USER appuser + HEALTHCHECK --interval=30s --timeout=3s \ + CMD curl -f http://localhost:8000/health || exit 1 ``` #### Expose port 5432 and add volume for postgres data ``` services: postgres: image: postgres:15 + ports: + - "5432:5432" + volumes: + - pgdata:/var/lib/postgresql/data ```

## Git Configuration

$ aider .gitconfig Added .gitconfig to the chat. #### Set default push behavior to current branch and enable color UI ``` + [push] + default = current + [color] + ui = auto ```

## System Configuration

$ aider /etc/hosts # May need sudo Added hosts to the chat. #### Block tracking domains by pointing them to 127.0.0.1 ``` + 127.0.0.1 ads.example.com + 127.0.0.1 track.analytics.co ```

## Editor Configs

$ aider .vimrc Added .vimrc to the chat. #### Enable line numbers and set 4-space tabs for Python ``` + set number + autocmd FileType python set tabstop=4 shiftwidth=4 expandtab ```

## VSCode Configuration

$ aider settings.json Added settings.json to the chat. #### Enable auto-format on save and set default formatter ``` + "editor.formatOnSave": true, + "editor.defaultFormatter": "esbenp.prettier-vscode" ```

## Markdown Documentation

$ aider README.md Added README.md to the chat. #### Add installation section with brew and pip options ``` + ## Installation + ``` + # Homebrew + brew install cool-app-10k + + # PyPI + pipx install cool-app-10k + ``` ```

## XML Configuration

$ aider pom.xml Added pom.xml to the chat. #### Add JUnit 5 dependency with test scope ``` + + org.junit.jupiter + junit-jupiter-api + 5.9.2 + test + ```