Pin one tested Aider version and write down what would make you re-evaluate it. Releases have slowed since August 2025, and the latest, 0.86.2, shipped on February 12, 2026. Aider still works with the models that release knows, and engineers keep using it. This worksheet turns the release record into a version policy and a list of triggers.
When you need this
- You are standardizing on Aider and need to judge maintenance risk.
- A new model your team wants is not in Aider's release.
- Engineers ask whether to move to a community fork.
- Your quarterly tool review is due.
Evaluation criteria
Read the release record
What has shipped, and when?
Look forThe record as of Oct 12, 2026. GitHub's latest release is v0.86.0 of August 9, 2025. PyPI has 0.86.1 of August 13, 2025 and 0.86.2 of February 12, 2026. 54 commits on main through May 22, 2026 are unreleased. The history page lists main-branch changes such as settings for newer GPT and Claude models.
Pin the version
Does every engineer run the same release?
Look forA pinned aider-chat version installed with uv or pipx, --no-check-update in the shared config, and an upgrade only after your own tests.
Handle new models
Can engineers use a model the release does not know?
Look forA model settings or metadata file for the model, tested on your repository, or --install-main-branch on a test machine first. Aider warns about unfamiliar models and uses the whole-file edit format for them.
Decide on forks
Will you allow a community fork?
Look forA written position. Some engineers moved to a community fork in late 2025. Treat a fork as a new tool: check who maintains it and under what license, and give it its own security review.
Set re-evaluation triggers
What would make you switch?
Look forTriggers such as no release in six months, a security report left open, or a model your team needs that the release cannot run. When one fires, pilot the alternatives on the same tasks: Claude Code, Cline, Codex, or Gemini CLI.
Questions to ask vendors
- Who on the team watches the Aider repository for releases and security reports?
- Which unreleased main-branch changes do we need, and can we test them before a release?
- What would a migration cost us in conventions files, scripts, and habits?
- Which alternative would we pilot first, and on which tasks?
Red flags
- Engineers upgrading or installing from main one by one.
- A standard set on Aider with no owner for its upgrade path.
- A fork adopted without a security review.
- No date set to review the decision again.
Products in this piece
Sources
- Official documentation
- 7
- Public source
- 6
- Aider releases on GitHub
- aider-chat on PyPI
- Aider release history
- Aider on GitHub (Aider-AI/aider)
- Aider docs: Installation
- Aider docs: Options reference
- Aider docs: Connecting to LLMs
- GitHub issue #4584: No new releases since early Aug (Oct 13, 2025)
- GitHub issue #4648: What is the intended future of Aider? (Nov 15, 2025)
- GitHub issue #4751: Thoughts and questions about the future direction of aider (Jan 7, 2026)
- GitHub issue #4880: No release notes for v0.86.2 (Mar 3, 2026; not a Signals source)
- GitHub issue #5242: Automate Aider minor and major releases (Jun 9, 2026; not a Signals source)
- Hacker News, flyinglizard: still loyal, but a single maintainer (Sep 29, 2025)