Show HN: Aide, an open-source AI native IDE

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Project basics & naming

  • Aide is a VS Code fork with an AI “sidecar” process; both are open source on GitHub (IDE + Rust sidecar).
  • Sidecar is fully open source; name overlaps with Apple’s Sidecar and Kubernetes sidecars, but many consider such duplication inevitable.
  • “Aide” conflicts with an Android IDE and the long‑standing AIDE intrusion detection project. Some argue for renaming; others say the use cases are distinct and the AI+IDE pun is too good to drop.

Differentiation vs Cursor, Copilot, Zed, etc.

  • Team claims advantages over other AI IDEs:
    • Deep editor integration (not just an extension).
    • Everything can run locally; users control LLM providers and keys.
    • Strong rollbacks that preserve the editor’s native undo/redo.
    • Open‑source licensing and data ownership.
  • Critics note Cursor already has deep integration, rollbacks, and workflows; they press for a clearer “killer feature” beyond Sidecar.
  • Some suggest VS Code extensions or CLI tools are more sustainable than maintaining a full fork; others report that AI‑native forks like Cursor feel significantly better than plugins.

Architecture, models, and context

  • Sidecar is a Rust “AI brain” using tree‑sitter and LSP for symbol understanding and context building.
  • The system issues smart go‑to‑definition/reference queries and applies heuristics to limit LLM calls and latency.
  • Adding new LLM backends (e.g., Claude via AWS Bedrock, Qwen 2.5) is described as straightforward; contributors are invited to add clients.

UX, stability, and platform support

  • Early users report:
    • Broken first‑run installer UI, confusion over “Trusted mode.”
    • High latency and global queuing when using the project’s shared API keys.
    • Confusing free‑request limits and a buggy login flow.
  • Maintainer attributes latency to launch traffic and rate limits, suggests using personal API keys, and acknowledges auth/UX issues.
  • Download links briefly broke due to GitHub rate limiting; fixed later. Linux .deb and scripts are available; AppImage confirmed working.
  • Some find the @/pinning context UX non‑intuitive and want automatic inclusion of the current file and better multi‑file context ergonomics.

Privacy and telemetry

  • Users ask about code/secret exposure. Maintainer says no telemetry is sent by default; a setting can explicitly disable telemetry, which short‑circuits the analytics client.

Broader AI coding discussion

  • Thread branches into wider tool comparisons: Cursor, Copilot, Zed AI, aider, Cline, and browser‑based ChatGPT/Claude.
  • Themes: AI excels at autocomplete and structured, repetitive tasks; multi‑file edits and reliability remain challenging; cost models, UX preference (in‑editor vs browser), and language support heavily influence tool choice.