Next‑Generation AI‑Assisted Development Proposal

Executive Summary

Our goal is to upgrade the current AI chat‑driven coding environment into a first‑class, IDE‑calibre assistant that can understand, debug, refactor, and validate code with minimal human supervision. We will give the AI the same power‑tools senior engineers rely on—scoped context, live debugging, automated refactors, formatting, linting, type‑checking, and test‑running—wired together in a transactional pipeline that iterates until the suite is green.

Objectives

Reduce cognitive load for both user and model by providing only relevant, type‑rich context.
Enable safe code changes via language‑server refactors instead of string edits.
Close the feedback loop with runtime introspection (log‑points & debugger watch values).
Guard quality by automatically formatting, linting, type‑checking and testing every AI patch.
Accelerate delivery so that a failing test can be triaged and fixed in ≤ 2 AI iterations.

Feature Set

1 · Context Intelligence

#	Capability	Purpose
1	Test‑anchored tree‑shaking	Feed AI only the code executed by the failing unit‑test plus dependencies.
2	Inferred TS types	Insert `/: type /` comments from the TypeScript Language Server so the AI reasons with full type info.
3	*Inline log‑points `/? /`*	AI drops markers → re‑runner replaces them with live values, producing self‑contained traces.
4	Debugger watch‑grid	Time‑travel replay exposes variable values at every executed line for AI queries.
5	Snapshot‑first assertions	If AI can’t infer an expected value it writes `toMatchSnapshot()`, then surfaces the snapshot for user edit.

2 · IDE‑Grade Operations

#	Command	Backing Tool	Wrapper Method
6	Rename symbol	TS Language Server	`RefactoringEngine.renameSymbol()`
7	Dead‑code prune	knip	`CodeCleaner.removeUnused()`
8	Format code	prettier	`Formatter.format()`
9	Lint & autofix	eslint --fix	`Linter.lint()`
10	Strict type‑check	`tsc`	`TypeChecker.validate()`
11	Run tests & coverage	jest / vitest	`TestRunner.run()`

3 · Transactional Pipeline

graph TD
    A[AI proposes patch] --> B[Refactor / Rename]
    B --> C[Formatter]
    C --> D[ESLint autofix]
    D --> E[Dead‑code prune]
    E --> F[Formatter again]
    F --> G[Type‑check]
    G --> H[Test run + coverage]
    H --> I{All green?}
    I --yes--> Commit
    I --no--> J[Send JSON errors back to AI] --> A

Any stage can abort & roll back, returning a structured error report for the AI’s next attempt.

Architecture Overview

┌────────────┐    ┌────────────────┐
│  Chat UI   │←──►│ ContextBuilder │
└─────┬──────┘    └────┬───────────┘
      │  enhanced ctx   │
      ▼                 ▼
┌────────────┐    ┌────────────────┐
│   AI LLM   │    │ RecordingDbg   │
└─────┬──────┘    └────────┬───────┘
      │ patch / queries     │ watch values / log‑expansions
      ▼                     ▼
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│            Orchestrator Runner               │
│  (rename → format → lint → knip → tsc → test)│
└──────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Typical Workflow

Failing Test Discovered — CoverageAnalyzer builds a minimal context bundle.
AI Analysis — Reads bundle, adds /*? */, queries debugger, proposes patch.
Pipeline Execution — Orchestrator applies patch and runs the full quality gate.
Iterate or Commit — Structured errors loop back to AI; on green the patch is committed.

Success Metrics

Metric	Target
Context size vs full project	≤ 5 %
Patches compiling on first try	≥ 90 %
Iterations to green tests	≤ 2
Lines removed by knip / week	Track downward trend
Snapshot edits per run	≤ 2

Implementation Timeline (≈ 6 months)

Phase	Duration	Key Deliverables
Architectural Skeleton	2 wks	ContextBuilder, Orchestrator stubs
Type‑Aware Context	3 wks	TS LS bridge, annotator prototype
Tree‑Shaking & Coverage	3 wks	Minimal bundle generator
Replay Debugger & Log‑Points	4 wks	Watch‑grid API, `/? /` expander
Refactor & Quality Wrappers	3 wks	Rename, knip, prettier, eslint, tsc wrappers
Test Playground & Snapshots	4 wks	Snapshot collaborator, visual test runner
UI Integration	3 wks	EnhancedWorkbench, CommandPalette
Hardening & E2E Tests	2 wks	Green CI, success‑metric dashboards

Next‑Step Spikes (2‑Week Sprint)

Coverage‑driven bundler on sample Jest test.
Type comment annotator proof‑of‑concept.
/*? */ transform + re‑runner.
Orchestrator MVP with prettier & eslint only.
Replay watch‑grid schema draft.

Once these spikes validate feasibility, we’ll lock scope, allocate resources, and begin phased delivery.

One‑Line Vision

From autocomplete → autonomous dev: an AI that proposes, refactors, formats, type‑checks, tests, and commits — while you watch it work.

BLamy/tricks-to-try.md