Register Bernstein in Aider¶

Aider's config file lives at ~/.aider.conf.yml and is YAML, not JSON. Aider does not natively load MCP servers, so this adapter is best-effort: bernstein desktop-register --host aider records a bernstein entry under an mcp-servers key in the YAML config. Community wrappers, custom launch scripts, and Aider plugins can pick that entry up to invoke Bernstein.

The write is idempotent and backup-first: the existing config is copied to a timestamped .bak sibling before any mutating write, and re-running the command when the entry is already correct performs no write.

Config path¶

Scope	Path
User (all projects)	`~/.aider.conf.yml`

Run bernstein desktop-register --list to print the resolved path on your machine.

Install¶

bernstein desktop-register --host aider

This writes (merging into any existing top-level keys):

model: gpt-4o            # existing keys preserved
auto-commits: false      # existing keys preserved
mcp-servers:
  bernstein:
    command: /path/to/python
    args:
      - -m
      - bernstein.mcp

command is the Python interpreter that runs Bernstein (resolved at registration time). Unrelated keys are preserved verbatim.

Telemetry DSN¶

To route Bernstein's side-channel telemetry (lineage, cost, run lifecycle, tracker events) into your own GlitchTip project when a wrapper launches Bernstein from Aider, export BERNSTEIN_TELEMETRY_DSN in the wrapper's environment before invoking Bernstein:

export BERNSTEIN_TELEMETRY_DSN="https://<public_key>@<host>/<project_id>"
python -m bernstein.mcp

Or add an equivalent env block in your custom launch script. Aider's own YAML config does not carry env vars for sub-processes, so the DSN must be set wherever the wrapper actually launches Bernstein. The same env-var name and wire format are honoured by every host (see docs/observability/side-channel.md), so operators running several hosts in parallel can point them all at one project. Verify with bernstein telemetry probe after relaunching.

Verify¶

bernstein desktop-register --list

The aider row should show Registered: yes. Because Aider has no built-in MCP loader, the entry will not light up the host's UI on its own; use it as input to a wrapper script that launches Bernstein when Aider starts.

For machine-readable output:

bernstein desktop-register --list --json

Uninstall¶

Open ~/.aider.conf.yml and delete the bernstein key under mcp-servers (and the mcp-servers key itself if Bernstein was the only entry). A backup of the pre-registration state is available as the *.bak sibling created during install.

Notes¶

Registration never deletes or rewrites entries it did not create.
A config file that is not valid YAML is left untouched and the command reports an error rather than overwriting it.
If a future Aider release adds first-class MCP support, this adapter will move to use the new key without changing the operator workflow.