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 Discord, 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 read-before-edit rule, and the same coding loop, served from a daemon that channels can plug into.
Every Aider primitive maps to a Digitorn equivalent. Where the mapping is not 1-to-1, the notes call out what changed.
Real apps in both stacks. The Digitorn version is what you would commit to a repo, no scaffolding hidden offscreen.
1# Aider, run from the repo:2$ aider --model claude-sonnet-4-5 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 Discord or as a service.1schema_version: 223app:4 app_id: coding-helper5 name: "Coding helper"6 version: "1.0.0"78runtime:9 mode: conversation10 entry_agent: coder1112modules:13 filesystem: { config: { workspace: "." } }14 bash: {}1516security:17 behavior:18 profile: coding1920agents:21 - id: coder22 modules: [filesystem, bash]23 brain: { provider: anthropic, model: claude-sonnet-5, credential: anthropic_main }24 system_prompt: |25 You write code. Read files before editing them. Run tests after26 every change. Use bash.run for git commands.The same coding loop as Aider, but the agent now lives in the daemon. Mount the same agent under a Discord channel, a webhook, or a cron, the loop does not change.
Subtle differences that look the same on paper and break on first run. Read these before you start porting.
security.behavior.profile: coding blocks an edit if the file was not read in the same session. Aider has the same idea by convention; 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. Slightly slower to orient, but no separate indexing step.
Aider has a voice mode. Digitorn has no built-in voice channel today. If voice is non-negotiable, keep Aider for the voice loop and back it with Digitorn for everything else.
# 1. install runtime
curl -sSL https://digitorn.ai/install | sh
# 2. save the YAML above as app.yaml in a new folder
mkdir from-aider
# 3. install and chat
digitorn install ./from-aider
digitorn chat from-aiderEngineering 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.