ponytail-gain skill
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, and not a per-repo number. Trigger: /ponytail-gain, "ponytail gain", "what does ponytail save", "show ponytail impact", "ponytail scoreboard".
Is the ponytail-gain skill safe?
Clean: nothing in its files matched our rules. We read 1 file in the folder on 2026-09-28.
No findings.
Install the ponytail-gain skill
A skill is a folder. Copy it into your agent's skills folder and the agent loads it when the task matches its description.
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/DietrichGebert/ponytail.git /tmp/ponytail mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills cp -r /tmp/ponytail/skills/ponytail-gain ~/.claude/skills/ponytail-gain
In the Claude apps, zip the folder and upload it from the Skills settings. The folder on GitHub
The instructions your agent would load
SKILL.md as published, without the frontmatter. Read it on GitHub
Ponytail Gain
Display this scoreboard when invoked. One-shot: do NOT change mode, write flag files, or persist anything.
The figures are the published benchmark medians (5 everyday tasks: email validator, debounce, CSV sum, countdown timer, rate limiter; three models: Haiku, Sonnet, Opus). They are measured, not computed from the current repo. Source: benchmarks/ and the README.
Scoreboard
Render plain ASCII bars. The bar length shows the measured range; the label carries the exact figure:
ponytail gain benchmark median · 5 tasks · 3 models
Lines of code no-skill ████████████████████ 100%
ponytail ██▌················· 6–20% ▼ 80–94%
Cost no-skill ████████████████████ 100%
ponytail █████▌·············· 23–53% ▼ 47–77%
Speed ponytail ▸ 3–6× faster
This repo: /ponytail-debt (shortcuts you deferred)
/ponytail-audit (what's still cuttable)Honesty boundary
These are benchmark medians, not this repo. NEVER print a per-repo savings number ("you saved X lines/tokens here"): the unbuilt version was never written, so there is no real baseline to subtract from in a live repo. The only real per-repo figures come from /ponytail-debt (a counted ledger), and this card points there instead of inventing one.
Boundaries
One-shot display. Edits nothing, changes no mode. "stop ponytail" or "normal mode": revert.
More skills from DietrichGebert/ponytail
- AponytailLazy senior dev mode for any coding task (write, refactor, fix, review): YAGNI, stdlib first, no unrequested abstractions. Not for non-coding requests.
- AponytailForces the laziest solution that actually works, simplest, shortest, most minimal. Channels a senior dev who has seen everything: question whether the task needs to exist at all (YAGNI), reach for the standard library before custom code, native platform features before dependencies, one line before fifty. Supports intensity levels: lite, full (default), ultra. Use on ANY coding task: writing, adding, refactoring, fixing, reviewing, or designing code, and choosing libraries or dependencies. Also use whenever the user says "ponytail", "be lazy", "lazy mode", "simplest solution", "minimal solution", "yagni", "do less", or "shortest path", or complains about over-engineering, bloat, boilerplate, or unnecessary dependencies. Do NOT use for non-coding requests (general knowledge, prose, translation, summaries, recipes).
- Aponytail-auditAudit the whole repo for over-engineering. A ranked list of what to delete, simplify, or replace with stdlib or native features.
- Aponytail-auditWhole-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 replace with stdlib/native equivalents. Use when the user says "audit this codebase", "audit for over-engineering", "what can I delete from this repo", "find bloat", "ponytail-audit", or "/ponytail-audit". One-shot report, does not apply fixes.
- Aponytail-debtHarvest every ponytail: shortcut comment into one debt ledger, so deferrals get tracked instead of forgotten. One-shot report.
- Aponytail-debtHarvest every `ponytail:` comment in the codebase into a debt ledger, so the deliberate shortcuts and deferrals ponytail leaves behind get tracked instead of rotting into "later means never". Use when the user says "ponytail debt", "/ponytail-debt", "what did ponytail defer", "list the shortcuts", "ponytail ledger", or "what did we mark to do later". One-shot report, changes nothing.
- Aponytail-gainShow ponytail measured impact as a scoreboard: less code, less cost, more speed, from the benchmark medians. One-shot display.
- Aponytail-helpQuick reference for ponytail's modes, skills, and commands. One-shot display.
- Aponytail-helpQuick-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".
- Aponytail-reviewReview a diff for over-engineering. Finds what to delete: reinvented stdlib, needless deps, speculative abstractions. One line per finding.
- Aponytail-reviewCode review focused exclusively on over-engineering. Finds what to delete: reinvented standard library, unneeded dependencies, speculative abstractions, dead flexibility. One line per finding: location, what to cut, what replaces it. Use when the user says "review for over-engineering", "what can we delete", "is this over-engineered", "simplify review", or invokes /ponytail-review. Complements correctness-focused review, this one only hunts complexity.