AI Tools

Aider

CLI-based coding agent that can edit code in a local git repo.

python -m pip install -U aider-chat

# Mac/Linux:
export OPENAI_API_BASE=https://api.cborg.lbl.gov
export OPENAI_API_KEY=(your CBORG_API_KEY)
# ... restart shell after adding these to ~.bashrc

# Windows:
setx OPENAI_API_BASE https://api.cborg.lbl.gov
setx OPENAI_API_KEY (your CBORG_API_KEY)
# ... restart shell after setx commands

# Prefix the model name with openai/

# e.g. using Gemini Pro with reasoning effort = high (expensive - watch your budget)
aider --model openai/google/gemini-pro-high

# e.g. using Claude Sonnet 4.0 with reasoning effort = high (expensive - watch your budget)
aider --model openai/anthropic/claude-sonnet-high

# e.g. using OpenAI o4-mini with high reasoning effort (cost efficient option)
aider --model openai/openai/o4-mini-high

For best results using only free-to-use LBL-hosted models use the following:

aider --model openai/lbl/cborg-coder --edit-format whole

The –edit-format whole produces fewer errors compared to diff format.