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Aider Architect/Editor

Self-ReportedCurated

Two-role pipeline: reasoning architect + format-specialist editor — 85% SWE-bench.

Aider (Paul Gauthier)· Operating since Sep 26, 2024· active
Curated from Aider blog — Architect/Editor Mode — not claimed by or endorsed by the organization. Metrics cited only as the source states. Absent metrics render as [unknown].

Recent activity

Version cuts and proof, newest first — the living track record.

  1. Artifact · Aider architect/editor mode blog post published1y ago

Spec sheet

The benchmark fields — designed for comparison across teams.

Topology
Pipeline
Agent count
2
Platform
Aider
Runs on
Aider ×2
Industries
software-delivery
Task kinds
code-editingbug-fixingrefactoring
Trust tier
Self-Reported
Proof entries
1

Topology & roster

Pipeline

Pipeline (two-stage). Architect receives the task and produces a natural-language plan of changes. Editor receives the plan and applies edits in the required diff format. One-directional: Architect does not see Editor output unless a retry is triggered. The Architect is model-agnostic; any strong reasoning model can fill the role.

System wiring

Typical Pipeline layout — schematic, not verified wiring
Node details

Typical Pipeline layout — schematic, not verified wiring

HumanHuman operatorHuman gate
Tool
Human operator
Autonomy
Human-gated
Sends
  • directs → Stage 1 agent
BuilderStage 1 agent
Tool
Stage 1 agent
Autonomy
Runs autonomously
Sends
  • hands off to → Stage 2 agent
Receives
  • directs ← Human operator
BuilderStage 2 agent
Tool
Stage 2 agent
Autonomy
Runs autonomously
Sends
  • hands off to → QA reviewer
Receives
  • hands off to ← Stage 1 agent
QAQA reviewer
Tool
QA reviewer
Autonomy
Runs autonomously
Sends
  • delivers to → Output artifact
Receives
  • hands off to ← Stage 2 agent
ResourceOutput artifact
Tool
Output artifact
Autonomy
Runs autonomously
Receives
  • delivers to ← QA reviewer

How a typical Pipeline team handles a task

Typical Pipeline layout — schematic, not verified wiring

  1. Task arrives

    Human operator directs Stage 1 agent.

  2. The builders execute

    Stage 1 agent and Stage 2 agent build the work.

  3. Independent review gates the work

    QA reviewer reviews the work. This reviewer is autonomous and separate from the agent that built the work, so the check is independent of its author.

  4. The artifact lands

    The artifact lands in Output artifact: QA reviewer contributes via "delivers to".

  5. Human holds the last word

    Human operator holds final approval.

Replicate a typical Pipeline setup

Typical Pipeline layout — schematic, not verified wiring

Ingredients

  • HumanHuman operator
  • BuilderStage 1 agent
  • BuilderStage 2 agent
  • QAQA reviewer
  • ResourceOutput artifact

Setup order

  1. 1.Provision the substrate: Output artifact.
  2. 2.Wire Stage 1 agent: it receives "directs" from Human operator and sends "hands off to" to Stage 2 agent. Wire Stage 2 agent: it receives "hands off to" from Stage 1 agent and sends "hands off to" to QA reviewer. Wire QA reviewer: it receives "hands off to" from Stage 2 agent.
  3. 3.Give QA reviewer an independent workspace/verdict channel: "delivers to" to Output artifact.
  4. 4.Declare the human gate: Human operator holds final approval.

Performance metrics

Windowed metrics with provenance. [unknown] means it was not tracked — an honest hole beats an invented figure.

SWE-bench score
85%
evidence-linked

o1-preview (architect) + o1-mini (editor). Source: aider.chat/2024/09/26/architect.html [evidence_linked]

as of Sep 26, 2024
SWE-bench (Claude 3.5, both roles)
80.5%
evidence-linked

Claude 3.5 Sonnet as both architect and editor. Source: aider.chat/2024/09/26/architect.html [evidence_linked]

as of Sep 26, 2024

Token economics

Cost transparency is part of the honesty architecture. [unknown] means it was not tracked — not that it is zero.

No cost metrics on record. Cost tracking is hard across runtimes; honest absence beats invented figures.

Blueprint

Operational DNA — why it works, how it was built, and how it is overseen. Not files for sale; knowledge of the design.

Why it works

Separating reasoning from edit-format compliance removes conflicting objectives from a single model. The architect can focus entirely on what to change; the editor focuses entirely on how to format the output. This enables using a top-tier reasoning model cost-effectively since the architect's output is natural language, not code diffs.

How it was built

Aider open-source CLI. Architect model specified separately from editor model in config. Tested combinations include: o1-preview + o1-mini (85.0% SWE-bench), Claude 3.5 Sonnet as both roles (80.5%), Claude 3.5 Sonnet (architect) + various editors. Model costs differ significantly between architect and editor — o1-mini is ~10× cheaper than o1-preview.

Oversight model

User reviews changes via Aider's standard diff review workflow. No autonomous loop — Aider operates in a human-on-the-loop mode where each set of changes is presented for confirmation. Source: Aider blog.

Proof (1)

The team's shared track record — tasks, incidents, lessons, milestones. Per-entry provenance tags are always visible.

  1. ArtifactSep 26, 2024evidence-linked

    Aider architect/editor mode blog post published

    o1-preview (architect) + o1-mini (editor) = 85.0% on SWE-bench. Documents the separation of reasoning from edit-format compliance as a key performance lever.

    https://aider.chat/2024/09/26/architect.html

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