Maintain a Small Business Website with Aider and a Local Model

Why this works

Most small businesses change a price, a phone number, or an opening hour every few months, and pay someone to do it. Aider is an open-source terminal tool that edits files in a git repository and commits each change, so you can review and undo it.

Step by step

1. Put the site in gitMake sure the website folder is a git repository, with a clean commit before you start.
2. Install AiderFollow the install instructions in the Aider repository. It is an open-source Python tool under Apache-2.0.
3. Point Aider at a local modelInstall Ollama and pull a coder model, then start Aider with an Ollama model string as shown in Aider's documentation for your version.
4. Ask for one small changeExample: 'Change the opening hours in contact.html to Mon–Fri 9–5.' Ask for one change per run.
5. Review the diff before you pushRun git diff, check the change, and only then publish the site.

Copy-paste prompt

Make only the change described below. Do not reformat other content, do not add new sections, and keep the existing HTML structure. After the change, list the files you touched.

CHANGE:
<describe one change>

Check your result

• The diff touches only the files you expected
• Prices, hours, and contact details match your source
• The site still loads locally before you publish

Pitfalls to avoid

• Local coder models are less capable than frontier models; keep changes small.
• Never let an agent run on a live server with no review step.