Ponytail

Ponytail is a set of rules for AI coding assistants written by developer Dietrich Gebert; what we list is the core text skill from the repository. It has the assistant act as a lazy senior developer: the best code is the code never written, so solve the whole problem with as little new code as possible. Before writing, the assistant reads the task and the code it touches and lists every place the change must reach, such as callers, tests and config. Then it takes the cheapest option that fully works: does this need to exist, is there something in the codebase already, can the standard library do it, can an installed dependency do it, and only then the minimum new code. It also names what must never be cut: validation at trust boundaries, error handling that prevents data loss, security and accessibility. Each reply ends with a line or two on what was skipped and any risk. There are three levels, lite, full and ultra, with full as the default. What sets it apart is that it writes "be lazy" and "finish the job" into the same rules: it saves on extra code, not on the work the task needs.

Who it's for:developers who find their AI coding assistant over-engineers things or rewrites far more than it should. Readers who don't write code won't have a use for it.

Before you start: it's a plain-text set of rules you hand to the coding assistant you already use, and it needs no API key of its own. The assistant is what actually reads and edits your project files, and your project content goes to its model provider as usual. Besides this text, the repository contains automatic hooks, plugins for various coding tools, a stats board and an optional webhook. The hooks run scripts and read your code at the start of each session, the stats board logs every task on your machine, and if you set up the webhook, task stats are sent to the address you choose. We haven't reviewed those parts, and we don't recommend installing the full plugin in one go. Copy just this SKILL.md instead. MIT licence.

Based on the project's public documentation. Not tested by AI Inspiration World.