Hamster for Aider

The planning layer for Aider.

Hamster syncs briefs, plans, and team decisions into your repo. Aider reads them alongside your code — structured context on every session.

The problem

Aider is great at pair programming. But it needs the plan.

Chat-driven development lacks structure

Aider works through conversation. Without structured requirements, the conversation drifts and the implementation diverges from what the team decided.

Context is limited to the current session

Aider sees the files you add to the chat. It does not see the product brief, the team constraints, or what other sessions have completed.

Features need upfront decomposition

Handing Aider a full feature in one chat produces sprawling changes. Breaking work into focused chunks falls on you.

Hamster gives Aider structured context.

Write a brief in Hamster, and AI expands it into a full spec. Generate a plan with scoped tasks. The Hamster CLI syncs everything into .hamster/ — Aider reads the brief and task specs as part of the repo.

Briefs as repo-local context

The Hamster CLI syncs briefs into .hamster/ as markdown. Add them to your Aider session for structured requirements alongside your code.

Task-scoped sessions

Hamster decomposes features into well-bounded tasks. Each Aider session focuses on one task with clear acceptance criteria.

Always-on context via the CLI

The CLI keeps .hamster/ files in sync in real time. Every Aider session starts with current briefs, tasks, and plans — no manual context gathering.

How teams use Hamster with Aider

Structured pair programming

Before

Chat with Aider about a feature. Re-explain requirements as the conversation drifts. Manually course-correct.

After

Add .hamster/ files to the Aider session. The brief and task spec keep the conversation on track.

Multi-session features

Before

Each Aider session starts cold. Re-explain what was done and what remains.

After

The CLI keeps task status in sync. Each session picks up the next task with full context.

Team coordination

Before

Developers run independent Aider sessions with no shared requirements or task boundaries.

After

Everyone works from the same brief and plan. Aider sessions run in parallel without conflict.

Give Aider the full picture.

Structured briefs and scoped tasks for focused pair programming.

Start building with Hamster