Ponytail Help

by dietrichgebertb088b2df6e08MITListed Oct 8, 2026Updated Oct 8, 2026

Quick reference for ponytail's modes, skills, and commands. One-shot display.

Instructions onlyAI & Agents
AI-generated overview

Displays a one-shot reference card for ponytail's modes, skills, and commands without changing any state.

What it does
Shows a reference card listing ponytail's three levels (Lite, Full, Ultra), its six skills and their triggers, how to deactivate or resume the mode, how to configure the default mode, and how to update the plugin. It is explicitly one-shot: it does not change mode, write flag files, or persist anything. It also notes host-specific invocation forms for Codex CLI, the IDE extension, Claude Code, and OpenCode.
When to use it
Use when someone needs a quick reminder of ponytail's modes, skill names, triggers, deactivation phrases, default-mode configuration, or update steps. It is a lookup card rather than a working tool.
Requirements
No scripts or special tooling; it only displays text. The card references environment variables and a config file path for configuring default mode, and mentions host commands such as /plugin for updates, but the skill itself requires nothing beyond the agent.

Ponytail Help

Display this reference card when invoked. One-shot, do NOT change mode, write flag files, or persist anything.

Levels

LevelTriggerWhat change
Lite/ponytail liteBuild what was asked, name the smaller option in one line.
Full/ponytailThe smallest complete change, a check where the logic needs one, and a reply that names what was skipped and any risk. Default.
Ultra/ponytail ultraAlso questions the request and pushes back before building.

Level sticks until changed or session end.

Skills

SkillTriggerWhat it does
ponytail/ponytailLazy mode itself: least new code, clear replies that name skipped work and risks.
ponytail-review/ponytail-reviewQuality review of a diff: bugs, security, load, missing tests, speed, what to cut. Each finding says what goes wrong and how to fix it.
ponytail-audit/ponytail-auditThe same quality review for the whole repo, ranked.
ponytail-debt/ponytail-debtHarvest ponytail: shortcut comments into a tracked ledger.
ponytail-gain/ponytail-gainMeasured-impact scoreboard: less code, less cost, more speed.
ponytail-help/ponytail-helpThis card.

In Codex CLI and the IDE extension, invoke skills with $ponytail:ponytail, $ponytail:ponytail-review, or $ponytail: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):

bash
export PONYTAIL_DEFAULT_MODE=ultra

Config file (~/.config/ponytail/config.json, Windows: %APPDATA%\ponytail\config.json):

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

Source and attribution

Source:dietrichgebert/ponytailin.openclaw/skills/ponytail-helpat commitb088b2d

License: MIT

Content belongs to its original authors. SourceWeft indexes it from a public repository.

Report or request removal

More from dietrichgebert/ponytail

Ponytail Review

dietrichgebert

Quality review of a diff: bugs, security, real load, missing tests, speed, and what to delete. Each finding says what goes wrong and how to fix it.

Awaiting classificationOct 8, 2026

Ponytail Gain

dietrichgebert

Show ponytail measured impact as a scoreboard: less code, less cost, more speed, from the agentic benchmark averages. One-shot display.

Awaiting classificationOct 8, 2026

Ponytail Debt

dietrichgebert

Scans a repository for ponytail: shortcut comments and compiles them into a single debt ledger report.

Software DevelopmentOct 8, 2026

Ponytail Audit

dietrichgebert

Audits an entire code repository and reports bugs, security risks, scale issues, missing tests, speed problems and code to delete.

Software DevelopmentOct 8, 2026

Ponytail

dietrichgebert

A coding-mode skill that guides an agent to make the smallest complete change and reply concisely.

Software DevelopmentOct 8, 2026

More in AI & Agents

Skill Development

anthropics

Featured

Guides creation of Claude Code plugin skills, covering structure, descriptions, progressive disclosure and validation.

AI & Agents37Kupdated today

Plugin Structure

anthropics

Featured

Guides the structure, manifest, and component layout of Claude Code plugins.

AI & Agents37Kupdated today

Command Development

anthropics

Featured

Guides creation of Claude Code slash commands, covering structure, YAML frontmatter, arguments and plugin features.

AI & Agents37Kupdated today

Claude Md Improver

anthropics

Featured

Audits CLAUDE.md files in a repository, scores their quality, and applies approved targeted improvements.

AI & Agents37Kupdated today

Google Agents Cli Publish

google

Featured

Guides publishing and registering agents with Gemini Enterprise and Agent Registry using the agents-cli publish command.

AI & AgentsOct 8, 2026

Google Cloud Solution Agentic Ai Data Science Workflow

google

Featured

Guides design of a multi-product agentic data science architecture on Google Cloud, from requirements to deployment and validation.

AI & AgentsOct 8, 2026