Use NeverMetered with Aider

AI pair programming in your terminal, through Aider's OpenAI-compatible support.

OpenAI Chat

Model

qwen3.8-27b

8,192 max output tokens on the free planReplace YOUR_API_KEY with your key.

1
Create an API key
Create a key in API keys and name it after the tool, for example “Aider”. A dedicated key per tool lets you see its usage separately and give it its own parallel-stream cap. The key is shown once; the snippets below use YOUR_API_KEY where it goes.
2
Set the endpoint and start Aider
The openai/ prefix tells Aider to use the OpenAI-compatible endpoint from OPENAI_API_BASE.
```
export OPENAI_API_BASE="https://api.nevermetered.com/v1"
export OPENAI_API_KEY="YOUR_API_KEY"
aider --model openai/qwen3.8-27b
```
3
Verify it works
--message runs a single prompt and exits. The request shows up in Requests within a few seconds, with its input, cached and output tokens.
```
aider --model openai/qwen3.8-27b --message "Reply with the word ready"
```

Tips

OPENAI_API_BASE and OPENAI_API_KEY affect every OpenAI-compatible tool in that shell. Set them per project (for example in a .env file Aider loads) if you also use OpenAI directly.

Troubleshooting

Aider warns about an unknown context window: Harmless, but add .aider.model.metadata.json with max_input_tokens to silence it and let Aider size the chat history correctly.
404 model_not_found: Use a model id exactly as GET /v1/models lists it, for example qwen3.8-27b. Plans can restrict which models a key may call.
429 concurrency_limit_exceeded: All your parallel streams are busy and your queue allowance is full. Lower the tool's parallelism (subagents, batch size), or get more streams on your plan.
Answers stop mid-sentence: The response hit your plan's output cap of 8,192 tokens (finish reason length or max_tokens). Ask for shorter steps, or upgrade for a higher cap.
403 email_verification_required: Free requests need a verified email. Click the link in your verification email (you can resend it from the dashboard), or upgrade.
429 daily_quota_exceeded: You've used today's free requests; agents send one request per step, so they go quickly. The allowance resets at 00:00 UTC, and paid plans have no daily limit.
503 / 504 request_queue_timeout: The service stayed busy longer than the queue timeout and nothing was generated. Retry with backoff, and give the tool a generous request timeout.