Ponytail
Pushes the agent to write the smallest change that fully solves the task.
- By
- DietrichGebert
- License
- MIT
- Skills
- 6
- Works with
- Claude Code, Codex
- Last changed
- October 18, 2026
- Source
- DietrichGebert/ponytail
Ponytail makes the agent ask, before writing code, whether the code is needed at all: maybe the project already has it, or the language already does it. The goal is less code that still keeps its safety checks.
Alongside the main mode there are commands to review a change, look over a whole project, and list the shortcuts the agent left to come back to.
Before you install
- Its extras that show progress at the bottom of the screen only work in Claude Code.
- The numbers on its page come from the author's own tests.
Install it
The commands below are for AI coding tools like Claude Code, which work with files on your computer. They won't do anything typed into a ChatGPT or Claude chat in your browser. Don't have a coding tool yet? Install Claude Code first.
Use the box for the tool you have, and copy its commands. Lines that start with / go in the tool's chat box. Other lines go in Terminal, the app where you type commands to your computer. A plugin is a bundle of skills made for one tool, and a marketplace is the list the tool installs it from.
Copied from the pack's own install instructions.
/codex plugin marketplace add DietrichGebert/Skills to start with
- ponytailThe always-on mode: before writing code, the agent checks whether it's needed, already exists, or comes built in. Use it when the agent keeps over-building.
- ponytail-reviewReviews your current change for bugs, security holes, missing checks and code that isn't needed.
- ponytail-auditReads a whole project and returns a ranked list of what to fix first. It changes nothing.
All 6 skills are listed in the pack's source. Checked by hand; see how we pick packs.