Aider is a great terminal coding assistant. It pairs with you on a repo, reads files, edits them, and stages git commits. The pattern is excellent, the integration story is the limitation: Aider is a CLI, not a runtime. Digitorn ports the same pattern to a YAML agent that lives anywhere your runtime lives.
Aider is glued to a single user at a single terminal. If you want the same coding assistant inside Slack, on PRs, on a web UI, or running unattended on a cron, you have to leave Aider behind. Digitorn gives you the file-edit primitives, the diff guard, the read-before-edit rule, and the same coding loop, served from a daemon that channels can plug into.
Concept by concept
Every Aider primitive maps to a Digitorn equivalent. Where the mapping is not 1-to-1, the notes call out what changed.
Side-by-side code
Real apps in both stacks. The Digitorn version is what you would commit to a repo, no scaffolding hidden offscreen.
Terminal coding session vs YAML coding agent
1# Aider, run from the repo:2$ aider --model claude-sonnet-4 src/api.ts src/utils.ts3> add a retry wrapper around the fetch helper, then run the tests45# Aider edits the files, runs npm test, commits if green.6# Works only in your terminal, not in Slack or as a service.1app:2 app_id: coding-helper3 name: "Coding helper"45execution:6 mode: conversation78modules:9 filesystem: {}10 shell: {}11 behavior:12 config:13 profile: coding # 14 built-in coding rules1415agents:16 - id: coder17 modules: [filesystem, shell]18 brain: { model: claude-sonnet-4-6, credential: anthropic_main }19 system_prompt: |20 You write code. Read files before editing them. Run tests after21 every change. Use shell.bash for git commands.The same coding loop as Aider, but the agent now lives in the daemon. Mount the same agent under a Slack channel, a webhook, or a cron, the loop does not change.
What bites people
Subtle differences that look the same on paper and break on first run. Read these before you start porting.
The behavior engine blocks an edit if the file was not read in the same session. Aider has the same idea, Digitorn enforces it at runtime.
Aider builds a repo map at startup. Digitorn relies on filesystem.glob and filesystem.grep instead, the agent maps as it goes. Faster, but the agent has to learn to discover.
Aider has a voice mode that Digitorn does not match yet. If voice is non-negotiable, keep Aider for the voice loop and back it with Digitorn for everything else.
- Hyper-fast repo map and code completion in a single terminal
- Built-in voice mode for hands-free coding
- First-party experience with hosted Anthropic and OpenAI models
Install Digitorn and port one of your Aider agents
# 1. install runtime
curl -sSL https://digitorn.ai/install | sh
# 2. copy the YAML above into a file
mkdir -p ~/.digitorn/apps/from-aider
# paste the YAML into app.yaml
# 3. deploy and chat
digitorn deploy from-aider
digitorn dev chat from-aider10 apps you can ship in 50 lines of YAML
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Engineering notes from the Digitorn team. No marketing, no launch announcements, no "10 prompts that will change your life". Just the things we write that we'd want to read.