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If /plugin is not recognized, your Claude Code is out of date.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