Auto-invokedSkill
ponytail-audit
Whole-repo audit for over-engineering. Like ponytail-review, but scans the entire codebase instead of a diff: a ranked list of what to delete, simplify, or…
@dietrichgebertView Skill/ponytail-help
Quick-reference card for all ponytail modes, skills, and commands. One-shot display, not a persistent mode. Trigger: /ponytail-help, "ponytail help", "what ponytail commands", "how do I use ponytail".
Install
$ npx -y skills add DietrichGebert/ponytail --skill ponytail-help --agent claude-codeHow it fires
How this skill gets triggered: by you, by Claude, or both.
- Fires itselfAuto-invocation. Claude auto-loads it when your prompt matches the work.Auto-invocation is when the right skill fires by itself at the right moment, driven by a FLOW.md router and a hook, instead of you invoking it by name. It is the difference between a skill being installed and a skill actually getting used.Read the full definition →
- You can call itInvoke it directly when you want it.
- Slash command
/ponytail-help
Context preview
The summary Claude sees to decide when to auto-load this skill.
Quick-reference card for all ponytail modes, skills, and commands. One-shot display, not a persistent mode. Trigger: /ponytail-help, "ponytail help", "what ponytail commands", "how do I use ponytail".
SKILL.md
ponytail-help.SKILL.mdname: ponytail-help
description: >
Quick-reference card for all ponytail modes, skills, and commands.
One-shot display, not a persistent mode. Trigger: /ponytail-help,
"ponytail help", "what ponytail commands", "how do I use ponytail".
Ponytail Help
Display this reference card when invoked. One-shot, do NOT change mode, write flag files, or persist anything.
Levels
| Level | Trigger | What change | |-------|---------|-------------| | **Lite** | `/ponytail lite` | Build what's asked, name the lazier alternative in one line. | | **Full** | `/ponytail` | The ladder enforced: YAGNI → stdlib → native → one line → minimum. Default. | | **Ultra** | `/ponytail ultra` | YAGNI extremist. Deletion before addition. Challenges requirements before building. |
Level sticks until changed or session end.
Skills
| Skill | Trigger | What it does | |-------|---------|--------------| | **ponytail** | `/ponytail` | Lazy mode itself. Simplest solution that works. | | **ponytail-review** | `/ponytail-review` | Over-engineering review: `L42: yagni: factory, one product. Inline.` | | **ponytail-audit** | `/ponytail-audit` | Whole-repo over-engineering audit: ranked list of what to delete. | | **ponytail-debt** | `/ponytail-debt` | Harvest `ponytail:` shortcut comments into a tracked ledger. | | **ponytail-gain** | `/ponytail-gain` | Measured-impact scoreboard: less code, less cost, more speed. | | **ponytail-help** | `/ponytail-help` | This card. |
Codex uses `@ponytail`, `@ponytail-review`, and `@ponytail-help`; Claude Code and OpenCode use the slash-command forms above (OpenCode ships all six as slash commands).
Deactivate
Say "stop ponytail" or "normal mode". Resume anytime with `/ponytail`. `/ponytail off` also works.
Configure Default Mode
Default mode = `full`, auto-active every session. Change it:
**Environment variable** (highest priority):
export PONYTAIL_DEFAULT_MODE=ultra
**Config file** (`~/.config/ponytail/config.json`, Windows: `%APPDATA%\ponytail\config.json`):
{ "defaultMode": "lite" }Set `"off"` to disable auto-activation on session start, activate manually with `/ponytail` when wanted.
Resolution: env var > config file > `full`.
Update
Enable auto-update once: open `/plugin`, go to Marketplaces, pick ponytail, Enable auto-update. Claude Code then pulls new versions at startup (run `/reload-plugins` when it prompts). Manual refresh: `/plugin marketplace update ponytail` then `/reload-plugins`.
If `/plugin` is not recognized, your Claude Code is out of date. Update it (`npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code@latest`, or `brew upgrade claude-code`) and restart. Other hosts use their own update flow.
More
Full docs + examples: https://github.com/DietrichGebert/ponytail
Read more
name: ponytail-help description: > Quick-reference card for all ponytail modes, skills, and commands. One-shot display, not a persistent mode. Trigger: /ponytail-help, "ponytail help", "what ponytail commands", "how do I use ponytail".
Ponytail Help
Display this reference card when invoked. One-shot, do NOT change mode, write flag files, or persist anything.
Levels
| Level | Trigger | What change | |-------|---------|-------------| | **Lite** | `/ponytail lite` | Build what's asked, name the lazier alternative in one line. | | **Full** | `/ponytail` | The ladder enforced: YAGNI → stdlib → native → one line → minimum. Default. | | **Ultra** | `/ponytail ultra` | YAGNI extremist. Deletion before addition. Challenges requirements before building. |
Level sticks until changed or session end.
Skills
| Skill | Trigger | What it does | |-------|---------|--------------| | **ponytail** | `/ponytail` | Lazy mode itself. Simplest solution that works. | | **ponytail-review** | `/ponytail-review` | Over-engineering review: `L42: yagni: factory, one product. Inline.` | | **ponytail-audit** | `/ponytail-audit` | Whole-repo over-engineering audit: ranked list of what to delete. | | **ponytail-debt** | `/ponytail-debt` | Harvest `ponytail:` shortcut comments into a tracked ledger. | | **ponytail-gain** | `/ponytail-gain` | Measured-impact scoreboard: less code, less cost, more speed. | | **ponytail-help** | `/ponytail-help` | This card. |
Codex uses `@ponytail`, `@ponytail-review`, and `@ponytail-help`; Claude Code and OpenCode use the slash-command forms above (OpenCode ships all six as slash commands).
Deactivate
Say "stop ponytail" or "normal mode". Resume anytime with `/ponytail`. `/ponytail off` also works.
Configure Default Mode
Default mode = `full`, auto-active every session. Change it:
**Environment variable** (highest priority):
export PONYTAIL_DEFAULT_MODE=ultra
**Config file** (`~/.config/ponytail/config.json`, Windows: `%APPDATA%\ponytail\config.json`):
{ "defaultMode": "lite" }Set `"off"` to disable auto-activation on session start, activate manually with `/ponytail` when wanted.
Resolution: env var > config file > `full`.
Update
Enable auto-update once: open `/plugin`, go to Marketplaces, pick ponytail, Enable auto-update. Claude Code then pulls new versions at startup (run `/reload-plugins` when it prompts). Manual refresh: `/plugin marketplace update ponytail` then `/reload-plugins`.
If `/plugin` is not recognized, your Claude Code is out of date. Update it (`npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code@latest`, or `brew upgrade claude-code`) and restart. Other hosts use their own update flow.
More
Full docs + examples: https://github.com/DietrichGebert/ponytail
Ships withponytail
Makes your AI agent think like the laziest senior dev in the room. The best code is the code you never wrote.
Get the whole plugin, auto-invoked
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Active
Maintenance
JavaScript
Language
MIT
License
2h ago
Last commit
3mo ago
Created
Repo: DietrichGebert/ponytail
Other skills on ponytail.
@dietrichgebertView SkillAuto-invokedSkill
ponytail-debt
Harvest every `ponytail:` comment in the codebase into a debt ledger, so the deliberate shortcuts and deferrals ponytail leaves behind get tracked instead of…
@dietrichgebertView SkillAuto-invokedSkill
ponytail-gain
Show ponytail's measured impact as a compact scoreboard: less code, less cost, more speed, from the benchmark medians. One-shot display, not a persistent mode,…
@dietrichgebertView SkillAuto-invokedSkill
ponytail-review
Code review focused exclusively on over-engineering. Finds what to delete: reinvented standard library, unneeded dependencies, speculative abstractions, dead…
@dietrichgebertView SkillAuto-invokedSkill
ponytail
Forces the laziest solution that actually works, simplest, shortest, most minimal. Channels a senior dev who has seen everything: question whether the task…
@dietrichgebertView Skill