Using Paqad with Aider

Aider is a command-line AI coding assistant that works closely with git. For Aider, Paqad is advisory: onboarding writes CONVENTIONS.md, telling the AI how to load your project's rules and workflows, but nothing in Aider makes it follow the file. Aider also does not read CONVENTIONS.md unless you tell it to, so there is one setup step.

What Paqad can enforce in Aider

Nothing, during the session. Aider is at the advisory level: the tool is given the rules but nothing stops it ignoring them.

• No edit is refused by Paqad.
• No verification runs when Aider finishes.
• Paqad's evidence files are only written if the AI runs Paqad's commands itself.

Paqad's source records Aider as advisory. Every optional feature is switched off for this adapter: no hooks, no MCP file, no skills, no cache or memory files.

Files onboarding writes

File	What it is
CONVENTIONS.md	The entry file, at the project root. It tells the AI to open .paqad/framework-path.txt and follow the installed framework, or to act as a normal assistant if Paqad is missing or off. An existing file keeps its text; Paqad's lines go in a marked block.
.aider.conf.yml	Written only when the ai_attribution policy is strip, which is the default. Paqad adds attribute-author: false, attribute-committer: false and attribute-co-authored-by: false so commits stay in the developer's name. Keys and comments you already have are kept, and any of these three you set yourself are left as they are.

Paqad does not set a model, a commit style or a read: entry in .aider.conf.yml.

Make Aider read CONVENTIONS.md

Aider only loads a conventions file you name. Either start Aider with:

aider --read CONVENTIONS.md

or add this line to .aider.conf.yml so it loads every time:

read: CONVENTIONS.md

Paqad keeps this line when it later updates the file.

Getting evidence without hooks

Paqad's instructions ask the AI, on advisory tools, to record each stage of feature work by running Paqad's commands, for example:

npx paqad-ai stage start planning
npx paqad-ai stage end planning --artifact <plan file>

In Aider, you may need to run these yourself. They write to the ledger, Paqad's evidence files under .paqad/ledger/. For a decision that needs your input, Paqad's instructions tell Aider to switch to /ask mode and wait for you. Nothing checks that either happens.

Independently of the AI, git post-commit and post-merge hooks link commits to their feature, and you can add Paqad's verification script to your CI pipeline. See Adapters overview.

Setting it up

1. Run paqad-ai onboard --providers aider, or tick Aider when onboarding asks.
2. Add read: CONVENTIONS.md to .aider.conf.yml, or start Aider with --read CONVENTIONS.md.

If you need edits to be refused when the process is skipped, use Claude Code or Codex CLI.