1. I need a smart autocomplete that can work backwards and mimic my coding patterns
2. I need a pair programming buddy (of sorts, this metaphor doesn't completely work, but I don't have a better one)
Pair development, even a butchered version of the so called "strong style" (give the driver the highest level of abstraction they can use/understand) works quite well for me. But, the main reason this works is that it forces me to structure my thinking a little bit, allows me to iterate on the definition of the problem. Toss away the sketch with bigger parts of the problem, start again.
It also helps me to avoid yak shaving, getting lost in the detail or distracted because the feedback loop between me seeing something working on the screen vs. the idea is so short (even if the code is crap).
I'd also add 5.: use prompts to generate (boring) prompts. For instance, I needed a simple #tag formatter for one of my markdown sites. I am aware that there's a not-so-small list of edge cases I'd need to cover. In this case I'd write a prompt with a list of basic requirements and ask the LLM to: a) extend it with good practice, common edge cases b) format it as a spec with concrete input / output examples. This works a bit similar to the point you made about generating unit tests (I do that too, in tandem with this approach).
In a sense 1) is autocomplete 2) is a scaffolding tool.
