skillboardUpdated every 6 hours
skillboardQuick-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".
2ed6c52Display this reference card when invoked. One-shot, do NOT change mode, write flag files, or persist anything.
| 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.
| 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).
Say "stop ponytail" or "normal mode". Resume anytime with /ponytail.
/ponytail off also works.
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.
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If /plugin is not recognized, your Claude Code is out of date.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.
Full docs + examples: https://github.com/DietrichGebert/ponytail
Copy a source-pinned command for your client. You run it yourself.
Destination: .claude/skills/ponytail-help · pinned to the source commit
git clone https://github.com/DietrichGebert/ponytail.git
cd ponytail
git checkout 2ed6c52c9d7e5e56942508591085fd45dea277d3
mkdir -p ".claude/skills/ponytail-help"
cp -r "skills/ponytail-help" ".claude/skills/ponytail-help"Review the source before running. This copies files into your project; it is not a one-click install and does not verify runtime safety.
Scanner static-checks@0.1.0 · commit 2ed6c52c9d7e. Static checks cannot prove runtime safety – review the source and the exact diff before installing. How checks work.
Instructs shell/process/package operations that run commands on the host.
Evidence: npm install· fingerprint 3a2dc0ae21eb56d7