Aider — UI Layout Reference

Agent-specific layout reference for Aider. See agent-ui-analysis.md for shared concepts.

Observed version: v0.86.2 (2026-03-22) Rendering engine: Python readline + rich (no TUI framework) Rendering approach: Sequential CLI output with ANSI colors

Key Characteristics

Aider is the simplest of all supported agents — a sequential CLI tool with no TUI framework, no screen management, no cursor positioning. Output flows linearly top-to-bottom like a normal shell command.

No Ink, no Bubble Tea — just Python with rich text formatting
Prompt is simple > (green, ANSI 256 color 40)
Spinner uses ░█/█░ Knight Rider pattern with backspace overwrite
No mode line, no status bar, no panels
File approval uses inline Y/N/A/S/D prompts

Observed States

─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Aider v0.86.2
Main model: openrouter/anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5 with diff edit format, infinite output
Weak model: openrouter/anthropic/claude-haiku-4-5
Git repo: .git with 855 files
Repo-map: using 4096 tokens, auto refresh
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
>

Green separators ───── (rgb 0,204,0)
Model info, git repo stats, repo-map config
Bare > prompt (green)

Working State (spinner)

░█  Updating repo map: examples/plugins/repo-dashboard/main.js
█░  Waiting for openrouter/anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5

Knight Rider scanner: ░█ and █░ alternate using backspace (\b) to overwrite
░ (U+2591, light shade) and █ (U+2588, full block)
Task description after the scanner chars
Already detected by parse_status_line via AIDER_SPINNER_RE

Agent Response

To find the version of this project, I need to check the version files.
 • package.json (for the frontend/Node.js part)
 • src-tauri/Cargo.toml (for the Rust/Tauri part)
Please add these files to the chat so I can tell you the version.
Tokens: 11k sent, 75 received. Cost: $0.03 message, $0.03 session.

Blue text (rgb 0,136,255) for agent output
Bold bullets • for lists
File names with inverted background (rgb 0,0,0 on rgb 248,248,248)
Token report after every response: Tokens: Nk sent, N received. Cost: $X.XX
Already detected by parse_status_line via AIDER_TOKENS_RE

File Approval Prompt

package.json
Add file to the chat? (Y)es/(N)o/(A)ll/(S)kip all/(D)on't ask again [Yes]:

File name shown in reverse video (\033[7m)
Inline prompt with 5 options: Y/N/A/S/D
Green text (same as main prompt)
Default answer in brackets: [Yes]
This is a readline prompt — Enter submits, no special handling needed

After Response (idle)

Tokens: 8.0k sent, 106 received. Cost: $0.03 message, $0.06 session.
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
package.json src-tauri/Cargo.toml
>

Green separator between conversation turns
Active file list shown before prompt (files in chat context)
Bare > prompt

Error State

litellm.AuthenticationError: AuthenticationError: OpenrouterException - {"error":{"message":"User not found.","code":401}}
The API provider is not able to authenticate you. Check your API key.

Orange warning text (rgb 255,165,0) for non-fatal warnings
Red error text (rgb 255,34,34) for fatal errors

Detection Signals

Agent Identification

Aider v in startup banner
░█ / █░ Knight Rider spinner
Tokens: + Cost: report after responses
Add file to the chat? approval prompt

Chrome Detection (`is_chrome_row`)

░█ / █░ — not in current marker set but detected by parse_status_line
Separator ───── — detected by is_separator_line ✓
Prompt > — detected by is_prompt_line ✓
Token report lines — not chrome markers, but not agent output either

Subtask / Subprocess Count

None. Aider does not have subprocess/subtask concepts.

Permission / Approval

No tool approval system — Aider auto-applies edits (or asks about file adds)
File add approval: Add file to the chat? (Y)es/(N)o/...
Edit confirmation: only with --auto-commits disabled, shows diff for review

Rendering Mechanics (raw ANSI)

Sequential output (no cursor positioning)

\r\n    — standard newlines, no cursor movement
\b      — backspace for spinner animation only

Color scheme

\033[0;38;5;40m        — green (ANSI 256 #40) for prompt and UI elements
\033[38;2;0;136;255m   — blue (rgb 0,136,255) for agent response text
\033[38;2;0;204;0m     — green (rgb 0,204,0) for separators
\033[38;2;255;165;0m   — orange for warnings
\033[38;2;255;34;34m   — red for errors
\033[7m                — reverse video for file names
\033[1m                — bold for list bullets

Spinner (Knight Rider)

░█\b\b       — write 2 chars, backspace 2
█░\b\b       — overwrite with swapped chars
  \b\b       — clear with spaces

Uses backspace (\b) to overwrite in place. No cursor positioning.

Readline integration

\033[?2004h    — enable bracketed paste
\033[6n        — request cursor position (readline)
\033[?25l/h    — hide/show cursor during drawing

Implications for TUICommander

Parsing Strategy

Aider is the ideal case for chrome.rs changed-rows detection:

Sequential output → each new line is a new changed row
No full-screen redraws → delta analysis works perfectly
Spinner overwrites in place → appears as single changed row

Already Supported

AIDER_SPINNER_RE in parse_status_line detects the Knight Rider scanner
AIDER_TOKENS_RE detects token reports
is_separator_line matches the green ───── separators
is_prompt_line matches the bare > prompt
░ (U+2591) and █ (U+2588) detected by is_chrome_row — Knight Rider spinner classified as chrome
has_status_line in chrome_only calculation — spinner-only chunks don’t reset silence timer
find_chrome_cutoff correctly trims Aider bottom zone (separator + file list + prompt)

Not Yet Supported

File approval prompt detection (Add file to the chat?)
Token/cost extraction from the report line
File context list (shown before prompt) — not classified as chrome

Keyboard shortcuts

TUICommander