engineering / skill
Ponytail
A skill that tells your coding agent to write only the code a task needs, with commands to review a diff, audit a repository and track shortcuts.
At a glance
- Purpose
- A skill that tells your coding agent to write only the code a task needs, with commands to review a diff, audit a repository and track shortcuts.
- Runs in
- Local agent with shell
- Operating systems
- Not stated
- Needs
- Runtime: Not stated; Needs internet: Not stated; Needs accounts or API keys beyond your agent: Not stated
- Files and data
- Reads files: Yes; Writes files: Yes; Sends data to other services: Not stated
- Tool type
- Skill
- Delivery
- From GitHub
- Version
- Latest on the main branch
- Access
- Code on GitHub
- Compatibility
- According to the README, the commands need a skill-capable host: Claude Code, Codex, Devin CLI, OpenCode, Gemini, pi, Hermes Agent, Qoder or Grok Build. The README says its instruction-only adapters for Cursor (a rule file), Windsurf, Cline, Copilot, Kiro and Antigravity load the always-on rules without the commands. The README points to a separate install guide for Copilot, Cursor, OpenCode, Gemini and the rest.
- External costs
- The repository is MIT-licensed and states no pricing. Your coding agent or model provider may charge for usage.
- Permissions
- The skills act through your coding agent with the access you give it. According to the README, the agent writes shortcut: comments in code to mark deliberate shortcuts. /ponytail-review reads the code your change touches, not just the diff, and /ponytail-audit maps the whole repository. In Codex the README tells you to trust two lifecycle hooks. It says Ponytail is active in every session once installed, with startup and mode-change text that shows the current mode. It says an optional config file in your home config folder, or the PONYTAIL_DEFAULT_MODE environment variable, can set the default level.
- Usage terms
- MIT License, as stated in the repository. See its LICENSE file for the exact terms.
Code on GitHub
DietrichGebert/ponytail
MITMakes your AI agent think like the laziest senior dev in the room. The best code is the code you never wrote.
Topics: agent-skills ai-agents claude claude-code claude-code-plugin cursor-rules developer-tools llm
Public GitHub data fetched · 0 days old
Skill folders in this repository (12)
Folders that contain a SKILL.md file, from GitHub's file list on .
What it does
According to the README, Ponytail is one prompt, a SKILL.md file, that tells your AI coding agent how to write code. The README states its rule as: write only what the task needs, and do not cut validation, error handling, security or accessibility. The README says the agent first reads the code the change touches, then climbs a ladder and stops at the first rung that holds: does this need to exist, is it already in the codebase, does the standard library, a native platform feature or an installed dependency cover it, can it be one line. Only then does it write the minimum that works, plus one small test if the code has logic.The repository has skills named ponytail, ponytail-audit, ponytail-debt, ponytail-gain, ponytail-help and ponytail-review. The README lists commands to set the intensity (lite, full, ultra or off), review the current diff, audit the whole repository, collect deferred shortcut comments into a ledger, show a benchmark scoreboard, and print a command reference. The README says every reply ends with what was skipped or not checked.
The README reports its authors' own benchmark of 39 tasks run in Claude Code, comparing the same agent with and without the skill. It claims less code, time, cost and tokens, and points to a results file for the method and limits.
Who it is for
Developers who use a coding agent and want it to write less code and report what it skipped.Example tasks
Set the Ponytail intensity to lite, full or ultra.Review your current diff for bugs, security, real load, missing tests, slow paths and what to cut.
Audit the whole repository and fix the highest-ranked finding first.
Collect the shortcut comments you deferred into a ledger.
Show the measured impact scoreboard.