Integration
Aider edits in your terminal. Windcraft checks the design.
Aider is a terminal pair programmer that edits files in your repo and commits as it goes. It does not read MCP, so we will not pretend it does. Windcraft’s role is the conventions it can read and the checker that catches what drifts.
Why terminal pair-programming drifts
Aider works directly on your files from the command line, one request at a time. It reads the repo map and the files in the chat, but it has no structured source of your design values, so UI changes lean on the model’s priors. Across a session, button radii and grays wander, and because Aider commits as it works, the drift is in your history before you have reviewed it as a whole.
How Windcraft works with Aider
Aider has no local MCP server, so the integration is honest and two-part. Export your design language to a conventions file Aider reads on every request, then let Windcraft’s static analyzer verify the output against your real tokens and contracts.
- Run npx windcraft init, then generate a conventions file from your tokens and contracts.
- Start Aider with that file in context: aider --read CONVENTIONS.md.
- Work as usual; Aider edits and commits in your repo.
- Run npx windcraft check (or check --fix) to catch and snap any drift to your tokens.
Give Aider your conventions, then verify the output
# load your design conventions into every Aider request
aider --read CONVENTIONS.md
# after a session, verify against your real tokens
npx windcraft checkFAQ
- Can Windcraft connect to Aider over MCP?
- No — Aider does not expose or consume an MCP server, and we will not claim a connection that is not there. Windcraft guides Aider through a conventions file it reads, and enforces the design with the static analyzer afterward.
- Is a conventions file as good as MCP?
- It is the right fit for Aider. The file gives the model your values as standing context, and the analyzer provides the enforcement MCP-based tools get at write time — so drift is still caught before it ships, just on the check step rather than the generate step.
- Does my source code leave my machine?
- No. The analyzer runs locally and Aider already works on your local repo. Only metadata — tokens, contracts, rule violations — is synced to the cloud.