/help
Answers questions about using, configuring, and troubleshooting Aider itself.
According to the command reference, /help is there to "Ask questions about aider" β you use it to ask questions about Aider itself, not about your project code.
The command is invoked as /help <question>, for example /help is the .env file global or for a git repo? (the official example from the docs). According to the docs, Aider has indexed its complete documentation: the question is used to find matching documentation sections, which are given to the LLM together with the current chat context via retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) β so the answer can relate to your specific problem in the session.
/help is also its own chat mode: without an attached question, the command switches permanently into help mode according to the docs (alternatively /chat-mode help); with /help prefixed before a message, the mode applies only to that one question.
π THE SAME TASK (βSHOW HELPβ) ON OTHER PLATFORMS
β WHEN TO USE IT?
Learn how to use an Aider feature
Type /help how do I configure my API key? to get a docs-backed answer directly in the chat.
Clarify an unclear configuration question
/help is the .env file global or for a git repo? β the official example from the Aider docs.
β WHEN NOT TO?
Ask questions about your own code or project
According to the docs, /help answers questions about Aider itself (usage, configuration, troubleshooting), not about your own codebase.
Better: Use /ask to ask questions about the code in the chat without changing files.
SOURCES
- Aider Docs β In-chat commands β aider.chat
MORE COMMANDS Β· Aider