diff --git a/.aider.conf.yml b/.aider.conf.yml
index cf33869..26147b1 100644
--- a/.aider.conf.yml
+++ b/.aider.conf.yml
@@ -1,18 +1,25 @@
 # Aider configuration file
 # For more information, see: https://aider.chat/docs/config/aider_conf.html
 
-# To use the custom OpenAI-compatible endpoint from hyperbolic.xyz
-# Set the model and the API base URL.
-model: Qwen/Qwen3-Coder-480B-A35B-Instruct
+# Reconfigured to use native OpenRouter support with a custom endpoint,
+# as indicated by the 'litellm.BadRequestError'.
+model: openrouter/Qwen/Qwen3-Coder-480B-A35B-Instruct
+
 openai-api-base: https://api.hyperbolic.xyz/v1
 openai-api-key: "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"
-model-metadata-file: .aider.model.metadata.json
 
-# The API key is now set directly in this file.
-# Please replace "your-api-key-from-the-curl-command" with the actual bearer token.
-#
-# Alternatively, for better security, you can remove the openai-api-key line
-# from this file and set it as an environment variable. To do so on Windows,
-# run the following command in PowerShell and then RESTART YOUR SHELL:
-#
-# setx OPENAI_API_KEY "your-api-key-from-the-curl-command"
+# The following settings configure aider to use your custom OpenRouter endpoint
+# and API key by setting the necessary environment variables for litellm.
+set-env:
+  - OPENROUTER_API_BASE=https://api.hyperbolic.xyz/v1
+  - OPENROUTER_API_KEY=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
+
+# Added to handle file encoding errors like "'utf-8' codec can't decode...".
+# This sets the default encoding for reading files to UTF-16.
+# If this causes issues with other files, you may need to convert
+# core/prediction_tracker.py to UTF-8 instead.
+encoding: utf-16
+
+# The metadata file is still needed to inform aider about the
+# context window and costs for this custom model.
+model-metadata-file: .aider.model.metadata.json
diff --git a/.aider.model.metadata.json b/.aider.model.metadata.json
index 76ac9a3..b16f6b5 100644
--- a/.aider.model.metadata.json
+++ b/.aider.model.metadata.json
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 {
-  "Qwen/Qwen3-Coder-480B-A35B-Instruct": {
+  "openrouter/Qwen/Qwen3-Coder-480B-A35B-Instruct": {
     "context_window": 262144,
     "input_cost_per_token": 0.000002,
     "output_cost_per_token": 0.000002