Aider Vision
Native · Lean · Autonomous

AI-assisted coding
without the IDE baggage

Aider Vision is a lightweight, cross-platform desktop app built with Tauri and React. It gives you Cursor-like AI coding capabilities through a clean, focused workspace — powered by Aider Vision Core, a headless evolution of Aider.

Install for macOS Build from source GitHub →
Homebrew cask Signed & notarized DMG Tauri v2 + Rust React + TypeScript macOS · Linux · Windows MIT License
Aider Vision application screenshot showing chat and terminal panels
Chat, terminal, and settings in one native shell

Features

Built for developers who want speed, not bloat

No Electron shell. No VS Code fork. Aider Vision pairs a native Rust backend with a minimal React front end and a headless AI engine you control.

01

Vision HTTP API

All prompting flows through a structured HTTP API. React is the head; the core engine stays headless under aider-vision-core/.

02

Real-time chat & terminal

Send prompts in a dedicated Chat tab and inspect raw engine output in a Technical Terminal for debugging.

03

Process management

Desktop spawns a local aider-vision-core-serve instance. Web mode uses the same API via Vite proxy or direct URL.

04

Flexible configuration

Adjust binary path, LLM model, extra CLI params, working directory, auto-approve limits, and worker mode from Settings.

05

Core repo integration

Link an aider-vision-core submodule or directory for advanced JSONL worker support and multi-repo workspaces.

06

Native performance

Rust + Tauri v2 keeps memory and startup time low on macOS, Linux, and Windows — without sacrificing cross-platform parity.

Architecture

Head and body, cleanly separated

Aider Vision beheads the old standalone Aider UX. Users never interact with the core CLI directly — every turn is API-driven.

Backend Rust + Tauri v2 Frontend React + TypeScript + Vite Styling MUI v6 + Emotion Packages Yarn (PnP)

Self-evolving by design. Aider Vision is built to help develop itself — dogfooding the same Vision API and chat workflow you use for your own projects.

Getting started

Up and running in minutes

macOS

Homebrew — signed & notarized DMG

The fastest way to install on macOS. The cask downloads a universal (Apple Silicon + Intel) signed and notarized DMG — ready for Gatekeeper — and installs Aider Vision.app to /Applications/. 

brew tap digital-defiance/tap
brew install aider-vision

Tap: digital-defiance/homebrew-tap

Build from source

For development, Linux, Windows, or hacking on the app itself. Requires Node.js 18+, Rust (stable), Yarn 3+, and the Aider CLI on your PATH.

  1. Clone the repository

    Fetch the superproject and enter the workspace.

    git clone https://github.com/digitaldefiance/aider-vision.git
cd aider-vision

  2. Install dependencies

    Yarn Plug'n'Play manages packages without a bloated node_modules tree. 

    yarn install

  3. Start development

    Launches the Tauri shell with hot reload for the React front end. 

    yarn tauri dev

  4. Build for production

    Package a native binary for your platform.

    yarn tauri build

Documentation

Dive deeper

Architecture notes, IPC contracts, development guides, and troubleshooting — all in the repo.

Architecture Head/body split, API surface, multi-repo IPC & events HTTP API and event stream shapes Development Local setup, workflows, conventions User workflow How to use the app day to day Troubleshooting Common issues and fixes Build (macOS) Platform-specific build notes Roadmap Active backlog and fix order README Configuration reference on GitHub