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Aider AI Pair Programmer AI Agents · Aider 0.86.2+sushi.2 Launch on AWS

Getting started

This page takes you from the AWS Marketplace listing to your first Aider change: subscribe, launch, connect, check the installation and run Aider with your own model provider. It takes about ten minutes.

You need: an AWS account with permission to subscribe to AWS Marketplace products and launch EC2 instances, and an API key for a model provider that Aider supports.

1. Subscribe

Open the Aider AI Pair Programmer listing, review the pricing and terms, and subscribe.

2. Launch the instance

Launch from the listing with these settings:

  • Instance type: t3.medium.
  • Storage: at least 16 GiB, encrypted gp3.
  • Metadata: IMDSv2.
  • Security group: no inbound rules are needed. Allow outbound HTTPS.
  • IAM instance profile: attach a role with the AWS managed policy AmazonSSMManagedInstanceCore so you can connect with Session Manager. Aider itself needs no AWS permissions.

3. Connect

Connect with Session Manager, from the EC2 console (Connect > Session Manager) or with the AWS CLI:

aws ssm start-session --target <instance-id>

Wait for first boot to finish:

cloud-init status --wait

4. Run the walkthrough

sudo -iu ubuntu bash /opt/sushi/docs/demo.sh

The walkthrough checks that first boot completed, prints the Aider version, confirms the ubuntu user cannot read /etc/aider/secrets, runs offline checks on the sample workspace, and then runs the self-test. It does not call any paid model. Each step prints STEP, COMMAND and RESULT lines, and the script ends with SUSHI_CUSTOMER_DEMO_PASSED.

The self-test includes one chat with a stand-in model on 127.0.0.1 that the script starts and stops itself. It needs no key and does not change hello.py.

5. Make your first change

Switch to the ubuntu user and go to the sample workspace:

sudo -iu ubuntu
cd /var/lib/aider/workspace

Set your provider key in this shell only. With read -s, the key does not appear on screen or in your shell history:

read -rs OPENAI_API_KEY && export OPENAI_API_KEY

Start Aider with the image's defaults and a model from your provider:

aider --config /etc/aider/aider.conf.yml --model <model-name>

Ask for a change, for example "add a function to hello.py that returns a farewell message". Aider shows the edit it made.

The image's defaults turn automatic commits off, so you decide when to commit. Review the change with git diff and commit it yourself, or use Aider's /commit command.

Keep your key out of logs

Do not put provider keys in EC2 user data, shared shell history, tickets or screen recordings.

Next steps

Use your own repositories, other providers and a key file in Configuration.

Last updated October 13, 2026 · Suggest an improvement