Patch

AI pair programming in your terminal.
Work with your codebase. Make changes with an LLM. Review them with Git.

Quick start · Documentation · Changelog · Report an issue

Patch is a command-line coding assistant that helps you build features, fix bugs, and navigate existing projects using cloud or local language models. It maps your repository for context, edits files directly, and integrates with your Git workflow.

Features

• Choose your model. Connect to cloud providers or local models.
• Work across your codebase. Use a repository map to give the model context beyond individual files.
• Review changes with Git. Inspect diffs, create commits, and undo AI-generated changes.
• Iterate with checks. Run linters and tests, then ask Patch to address failures.
• Bring more context. Add images, web pages, and voice input to your coding conversations.
• Use your existing tools. Work in the terminal alongside your editor, or try the experimental browser UI.

Quick start

Requires Python 3.10–3.14. Install the patch-code package in a virtual environment:

python -m venv .venv

# macOS / Linux
source .venv/bin/activate

# Windows PowerShell
# .venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1

python -m pip install patch-code

Open your project and start a conversation:

cd /path/to/your/project
python -m patch --model sonnet --api-key anthropic=YOUR_API_KEY

The patch command is also available when your virtual environment is active. Use python -m patch to avoid ambiguity with the standard Unix patch utility.

Run python -m patch --help for all options. See the model configuration guide for other providers.

Install from source

To work with the current checkout instead of a published PyPI release:

git clone https://github.com/PierrunoYT/patch.git
cd patch
# Activate a virtual environment first, as shown above.
python -m pip install -e .
python -m patch --help

Configuration

Provider credentials keep their provider-specific names, such as ANTHROPIC_API_KEY and OPENAI_API_KEY. Keep credentials out of version control.

A cloned repository writes its own .patch.conf.yml and .env, so Patch ignores the settings in them that run commands, carry credentials, steer API traffic, or write outside the repository. Startup messages, file grants (read/file), and startup edit/test/commit actions also require trusted configuration. Use your own configuration for those, or --trust-repo-config for a repository you have reviewed. See configuration options.

Moving from Aider

Patch does not automatically read or migrate Aider configuration. Rename and review your .aider* configuration files as .patch*, and update application environment variables from AIDER_* to PATCH_* before using them with Patch.

Documentation

• Installation and optional extras
• Usage guide
• Model configuration
• Configuration options
• Git integration
• Troubleshooting
• Analytics
• Patch changelog
• Contributing

These Markdown docs are packaged with Patch for /help <question>. Patch does not maintain a separate documentation website.

Logos

• Wide PATCH wordmark — 2048 × 686, lettering only.
• Square P icon — 2048 × 2048.

Both SVGs use mint on charcoal and scale without requiring fonts. The root assets/ folder contains the logos.

License and attribution

Patch is a fork of Aider, developed in PierrunoYT/patch. This repository is licensed under Apache 2.0.

The inherited release history and retained benchmark data are upstream material, not claims about Patch. Historical documentation links point to upstream Aider's GitHub sources. The inherited website, articles, and recordings are no longer bundled with Patch.