Agent skill · Design & Presentation

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".

DietrichGebertgithub.com/DietrichGebertGitHub ↗
claude-codecursorMIT
Install
npx skills add DietrichGebert/ponytail --skill ponytail-help --agent claude-code

Same command for any agent — swap --agent for codex, cursor, copilot.

Facts
Files in the skill folder: 1
SKILL.md size: 3 KB
Bundled scripts: none
Path: skills/ponytail-help/SKILL.md
Open the folder on GitHub →
Where it comes from
Stars: 95,650 · +4,774 this week
Language: JavaScript
Read our review of the source →

Weekly change comes from our own snapshots, not the repository page — it measures attention, not adoption.

From the SKILL.md

# 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-he

What's inside
Steps it walks through
  1. Levels
  2. Skills
  3. Deactivate
  4. Configure Default Mode
  5. Update
  6. More
Commands it runs
export PONYTAIL_DEFAULT_MODE=ultra
More from ponytail
All skills →
ponytail-auditWhole-repo audit for over-engineering. Like ponytail-review, but scans the entire codebase instead…Securityponytail-debtHarvest every `ponytail:` comment in the codebase into a debt ledger, so the deliberate shortcuts…Otherponytail-gainShow ponytail's measured impact as a compact scoreboard: less code, less cost, more speed, from the…Otherponytail-reviewCode review focused exclusively on over-engineering. Finds what to delete: reinvented standard…Code Review & QualityponytailForces the laziest solution that actually works, simplest, shortest, most minimal. Channels a…Documentation
About this skill
What does the ponytail-help skill do?

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".

How do I install it?

Run `npx skills add DietrichGebert/ponytail --skill ponytail-help --agent claude-code` — it drops the skill into your project so the agent can pick it up. Swap the --agent value for codex, cursor or copilot if you use one of those.

Where does this skill come from?

From DietrichGebert/ponytail, a repository with 95,650 stars. We read it straight from the repository tree rather than a submitted listing, so what you see here is what is actually published.

Is a popular skill a good skill?

Not necessarily. Stars measure attention, not adoption — a repository can trend for a week and be abandoned. That is why we show the weekly change from our own snapshots next to the total, instead of a single flattering number.

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