Aider
Where Aider stores your chat history
Aider writes chat history as Markdown in .aider.chat.history.md at the root of each git repo. Where it is, what is in it, and how to restore or clear it.
Updated October 29, 2026 // Markdown
- Made by
- Aider (open source)
- History lives in
- Every repo
<git-root>/.aider.chat.history.md - Input history
<git-root>/.aider.input.history
- Every repo
- Format
- Appended Markdown
- Kept for
- Kept until you delete it
- Resume
aider --restore-chat-history- Cloud copy
- Local
Aider keeps the simplest history of any agent here: a Markdown file in each repository.
Where the files are
| File | What it holds |
|---|---|
.aider.chat.history.md |
The chat, appended run after run |
.aider.input.history |
Your typed inputs, for the up-arrow |
--llm-history-file (optional) |
The raw exchange with the model |
Each run starts with a # aider chat started at <time> heading. Your prompts are lines starting #### , and tool and status output is quoted with > . There are no structured tool-call records and no session ids.
Restore and clear
aider --restore-chat-history loads the previous chat back into context. /save and /load save the set of files in the chat, not the conversation. To clear history, delete the file.
Add this to .gitignore so the history never lands in a commit:
.aider*
Privacy notes
History stays in the repo folder. Aider's analytics are opt-in and exclude chat content.
The groundedby evaluator does not read Aider history yet.
Questions
Where is Aider's chat history?+
In each repository, at .aider.chat.history.md in the git root. Your typed inputs go to .aider.input.history next to it. Both paths can be changed with --chat-history-file and --input-history-file.
Should I commit .aider.chat.history.md?+
Usually not. It contains everything said in the chat, including pasted output. Add .aider* to .gitignore.
Sources
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