Aider + Gonka AI - pair programming with AI

Aider is one of the best terminal AI coding assistants. It works with Git, understands project structure, creates commits, and edits multiple files simultaneously. This is not just a chat with AI — it's full-fledged pair programming where your AI partner reads your code, proposes changes, and applies them.

Aider supports OpenAI-compatible APIs out of the box. Connecting to JoinGonka Gateway takes 2 environment variables and 30 seconds of setup. After that, you get unlimited pair programming for $0.003/1M tokens.

Step 1: Install Aider and get key

Install Aider:

# pip
pip install aider-chat

# pipx (recommended)
pipx install aider-chat

# Homebrew (macOS)
brew install aider

API Key: register at gate.joingonka.ai/register, get 10M free tokens, create a jg-xxx key.

Step 2: Configure Aider

The easiest way is to set it up with the one-command installer. For CLI/file tools, it will configure the JoinGonka provider (baseUrl, models) itself, and for UI tools, it will show ready-made values for insertion:

npx @joingonka/setup --tool aider

The installer is universal (without a flag, it will prompt you to choose a tool from the list), will ask for the jg-… key, and after configuration, performs a live check with a request to the gateway. It does not touch other settings. Below is the manual method if you prefer to set it up yourself.

Manual setup (Plan B)

Method 1: environment variables (easiest):

export OPENAI_API_BASE=https://gate.joingonka.ai/v1
export OPENAI_API_KEY=jg-your-key

Run:

aider --model openai/MiniMaxAI/MiniMax-M2.7

Method 2: per-project file .aider.conf.yml in the project root — the most native way: endpoint, key, and model in a single file, without changing global environment variables (a global OPENAI_* would intercept your other OpenAI-compatible tools):

# .aider.conf.yml
openai-api-base: https://gate.joingonka.ai/v1
openai-api-key: jg-your-key
model: openai/MiniMaxAI/MiniMax-M2.7

Optionally — fine-tune model behavior in a separate .aider.model.settings.yml (it defines ONLY model parameters, not the endpoint or key):

# .aider.model.settings.yml
- name: openai/MiniMaxAI/MiniMax-M2.7
  edit_format: diff
  use_repo_map: true
  extra_params:
    max_tokens: 8192  # output limit via Gateway

Method 3: shell alias for convenience:

alias gonka-aider='OPENAI_API_BASE=https://gate.joingonka.ai/v1 OPENAI_API_KEY=jg-your-key aider --model openai/MiniMaxAI/MiniMax-M2.7'

Verification: go to the Git repository and run gonka-aider. Aider will show model information and offer to add files to the context. Ask it to make a change to a file — if Aider creates a commit, everything is working.

Aider + Gonka capabilities

Aider is not just a chat. It is a full-fledged AI pair programming tool:

Git integration: Aider automatically creates commits for every change. Easily roll back any AI decision via git undo.
Project context: Aider builds a repo map (repo map) — it understands dependencies between files, imports, and project structure. Kimi K2.6 receives full context.
Multi-file edits: can modify 5-10 files simultaneously to implement a feature. Each file is a separate diff, and every edit is trackable.
Voice input: supports --voice — dictate tasks instead of typing.
Linting and tests: integration with linters and test frameworks — Aider sees errors and fixes them automatically.

With Gonka, all of this costs pennies. A typical pair programming session (2-4 hours) consumes 10-30M tokens — that is $0.01-0.03 via JoinGonka Gateway. With OpenAI — $50-200 for the same session.

Alternative terminal tools: Claude Code, OpenCode.

Model parameters: Kimi K2.6 context window is 200K tokens, maximum response length via Gateway is up to 8192 tokens (for all network models). This is sufficient for most pair programming tasks.

Aider + Gonka = professional AI-powered pair programming for pennies. Git integration, multi-file edits, project context — all for $0.01-0.03/session instead of $50-200 at OpenAI.

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