Aider with Venice | Venice API Docs

Aider is an AI pair-programming tool that edits your local git repo from the terminal. Venice works through Aider’s OpenAI-compatible API support — set the Venice base URL and API key, then prefix the model ID with openai/.

Terminal Pair Programming

Edit your git repo with Venice models from the CLI

OpenAI Compatible

Uses Venice’s /chat/completions endpoint

Any Text Model

Swap in any Venice text model ID

Prerequisites

A Venice API key from venice.ai/settings/api
Python 3.9+ available on your machine
A git repository to work in

Setup

Install Aider

Install Aider with the official installer:

python -m pip install aider-install
aider-install

See the Aider install docs if you prefer another install method.

Configure Venice as the OpenAI endpoint

Point Aider at Venice by setting the OpenAI-compatible base URL and your Venice API key.Mac / Linux:

export OPENAI_API_BASE=https://api.venice.ai/api/v1
export OPENAI_API_KEY=your-venice-api-key

Windows (PowerShell):

$env:OPENAI_API_BASE = "https://api.venice.ai/api/v1"
$env:OPENAI_API_KEY = "your-venice-api-key"

Windows (Command Prompt, persisted):

setx OPENAI_API_BASE https://api.venice.ai/api/v1
setx OPENAI_API_KEY your-venice-api-key

Restart the terminal after setx so the new variables are available.

Start Aider with a Venice model

From your project directory, prefix the Venice model ID with openai/:

cd /to/your/project

aider --model openai/zai-org-glm-5-1

Other good starting models:

aider --model openai/kimi-k2-5
aider --model openai/minimax-m25
aider --model openai/venice-uncensored

Browse all text model IDs in the model catalog.

Persist Configuration with `.env`

For a project-local setup, create a .env file in your git repo root:

OPENAI_API_BASE=https://api.venice.ai/api/v1
OPENAI_API_KEY=your-venice-api-key
AIDER_MODEL=openai/zai-org-glm-5-1

Then start Aider normally:

aider

Aider also reads .env from your home directory. Repo-root values take priority over home-directory values. Keep this file out of git — add .env to .gitignore if it is not ignored already.

You can also set AIDER_OPENAI_API_BASE and AIDER_OPENAI_API_KEY. Official Aider docs still document OPENAI_API_BASE and OPENAI_API_KEY for OpenAI-compatible providers.

Persist Configuration with YAML

You can store the same settings in .aider.conf.yml in your repo root or home directory:

openai-api-base: https://api.venice.ai/api/v1
openai-api-key: your-venice-api-key
model: openai/zai-org-glm-5-1

Then run:

aider

Verify the Setup

After Aider starts, ask it something small that proves the model is reachable:

Reply with one sentence confirming you are running through Venice.

If the endpoint and key are correct, Aider streams a response from the selected Venice model. You can also confirm the API key outside Aider:

curl https://api.venice.ai/api/v1/models \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $OPENAI_API_KEY"

Choosing Models

Use case	Example model ID	Aider flag
Strong coding / refactoring	`zai-org-glm-5-1`	`--model openai/zai-org-glm-5-1`
Fast iteration	`minimax-m25`	`--model openai/minimax-m25`
Long-context coding	`kimi-k2-5`	`--model openai/kimi-k2-5`
Uncensored chat	`venice-uncensored`	`--model openai/venice-uncensored`

Always prefix Venice model IDs with openai/ when launching Aider. Without that prefix, Aider will not route the request through the OpenAI-compatible provider path. Discover current model IDs at runtime:

curl https://api.venice.ai/api/v1/models \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $OPENAI_API_KEY"

Or check GET /models/traits for defaults such as text:default.

Config Notes

Keep OPENAI_API_BASE set to https://api.venice.ai/api/v1. Do not append /chat/completions; Aider adds the chat path itself.
Use a Venice API key in OPENAI_API_KEY. Do not use an OpenAI key with the Venice base URL.
Aider may warn that the model has an unknown context window or cost. That warning is expected for many Venice model IDs and is usually safe to ignore. See Aider model warnings.
Prefer capable coding/reasoning models for multi-file edits. Smaller or non-coding models may struggle with Aider’s edit formats.

Setting OPENAI_API_BASE and OPENAI_API_KEY in your shell also affects other tools that read those variables. Prefer a project .env or .aider.conf.yml if you use OpenAI elsewhere in the same environment.

Troubleshooting

401 or authentication error

Confirm OPENAI_API_KEY is a Venice key from venice.ai/settings/api, with no extra whitespace. On Windows after setx, restart the terminal.

Model not found or empty response

Confirm the model ID exists in the text model catalog and that you launched Aider with the openai/ prefix, for example openai/zai-org-glm-5-1.

Requests still go to OpenAI

Check that OPENAI_API_BASE is exactly https://api.venice.ai/api/v1 in the same shell session. Print it with echo $OPENAI_API_BASE (or $env:OPENAI_API_BASE in PowerShell).

Unknown context window / costs warning

Expected for many Venice models. Aider falls back to sane defaults. To silence it, add model metadata as described in Aider advanced model settings.

Resources

Venice Text Models

Browse available Venice model IDs

Aider OpenAI-compatible docs

Official Aider provider setup

Aider config with .env

Persist API keys and model settings

Venice API Reference

Full endpoint and parameter docs

Terminal Pair Programming

OpenAI Compatible

Any Text Model

​Prerequisites

​Setup

​Persist Configuration with .env

​Persist Configuration with YAML

​Verify the Setup

​Choosing Models

​Config Notes

​Troubleshooting

​Resources

Venice Text Models

Aider OpenAI-compatible docs

Aider config with .env

Venice API Reference

Prerequisites

Setup

Persist Configuration with `.env`

Persist Configuration with YAML

Verify the Setup

Choosing Models

Config Notes

Troubleshooting

Resources