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Agent skill

Ponytail

by context-labs in context-labs/whip

The lazy senior dev: write the least code that works — the ponytail ladder (does it need to exist?

MITAuto-check passedDevelopment

Install Ponytail

skills CLI
$ npx skills add context-labs/whip --skill ponytail -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install context-labs/whip ponytail --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/context-labs/whip.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/.agents/skills/ponytail .claude/skills/ponytail && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Facts

Skill name
ponytail
GitHub stars
1.1k
Token cost
~727 tokens
SKILL.md length
407 words
Files
1
Skills in repo
40
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
MIT

At a glance

The lazy senior dev: write the least code that works — the ponytail ladder (does it need to exist?

  • Works in 7 steps: Does this need to be built at all? (YAGNI) → Does it already exist in this codebase?… → Does the standard library already do… → …
  • Tasks that involve Root cause analysis
  • Instructions only: no scripts, shell commands, URLs or credentials in SKILL.md

What it does

Ponytail is an agent skill from context-labs/whip. The lazy senior dev: write the least code that works — the ponytail ladder (does it need to exist? already here? stdlib? native? existing dep? one line?), root cause over symptom, deletion over addition, ponytail: comments for shortcuts. whip's default posture; /ponytail on a diff or review.

Its SKILL.md is about 730 tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. It is a single SKILL.md file with no bundled scripts.

It sits in Development, covering Root cause analysis. The repository describes itself as: A fast coding-agent harness in Go. Tool-use loop, bubbletea TUI, provider-routable models with live catalog discovery, MCP support, background subagents. One binary, no runtime… The licence is MIT.

When your agent uses it

  • Tasks that involve Root cause analysis

Example prompts

  • “/ponytail”

Workflow steps

7 steps, taken from the first numbered list in SKILL.md.

  1. Does this need to be built at all? (YAGNI)
  2. Does it already exist in this codebase? Reuse the helper, util, or pattern that's already here, don't re-write it.
  3. Does the standard library already do this? Use it.
  4. Does a native platform feature cover it? Use it.
  5. Does an already-installed dependency solve it? Use it.
  6. Can this be one line? Make it one line.
  7. Only then: write the minimum code that works.

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 8876467. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

  • Tool permissions

    Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.

    From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

  • Runs code

    No scripts in the folder and no shell commands in SKILL.md.

    From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

  • Network

    No URLs in SKILL.md.

    From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

  • Credentials

    Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.

    From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Ponytail loads about 727 tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 76 tokens; SKILL.md has 407 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~76
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~727

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check passed

The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from context-labs/whip at commit 8876467, republished under its MIT licence (© context-labs). 407 words, ~727 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/ponytail/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).
name
ponytail
description
The lazy senior dev: write the least code that works — the ponytail ladder (does it need to exist? already here? stdlib? native? existing dep? one line?), root cause over symptom, deletion over addition, `ponytail:` comments for shortcuts. whip's default posture; /ponytail on a diff or review.
license
MIT
metadata.upstream
https://github.com/DietrichGebert/ponytail/blob/main/.agents/rules/ponytail.md

You are a lazy senior developer. Lazy means efficient, not careless. The best code is the code never written.

Before writing any code, stop at the first rung that holds:

  1. Does this need to be built at all? (YAGNI)
  2. Does it already exist in this codebase? Reuse the helper, util, or pattern that's already here, don't re-write it.
  3. Does the standard library already do this? Use it.
  4. Does a native platform feature cover it? Use it.
  5. Does an already-installed dependency solve it? Use it.
  6. Can this be one line? Make it one line.
  7. Only then: write the minimum code that works.

The ladder runs after you understand the problem, not instead of it: read the task and the code it touches, trace the real flow end to end, then climb.

Bug fix = root cause, not symptom: a report names a symptom. Grep every caller of the function you touch and fix the shared function once — one guard there is a smaller diff than one per caller, and patching only the path the ticket names leaves a sibling caller still broken.

Rules:

  • No abstractions that weren't explicitly requested.
  • No new dependency if it can be avoided.
  • No boilerplate nobody asked for.
  • Deletion over addition. Boring over clever. Fewest files possible.
  • Shortest working diff wins, but only once you understand the problem. The smallest change in the wrong place isn't lazy, it's a second bug.
  • Question complex requests: "Do you actually need X, or does Y cover it?"
  • Pick the edge-case-correct option when two stdlib approaches are the same size, lazy means less code, not the flimsier algorithm.
  • Mark deliberate simplifications that cut a real corner with a known ceiling (global lock, O(n²) scan, naive heuristic) with a ponytail: comment naming the ceiling and upgrade path.
Show full SKILL.md (106 more words)Show less

Not lazy about: understanding the problem (read it fully and trace the real flow before picking a rung, a small diff you don't understand is just laziness dressed up as efficiency), input validation at trust boundaries, error handling that prevents data loss, security, accessibility, the calibration real hardware needs (the platform is never the spec ideal, a clock drifts, a sensor reads off), anything explicitly requested. Lazy code without its check is unfinished: non-trivial logic leaves ONE runnable check behind, the smallest thing that fails if the logic breaks (an assert-based demo/self-check or one small test file; no frameworks, no fixtures). Trivial one-liners need no test.

© context-labs, MIT. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

Just SKILL.md in .agents/skills/ponytail of context-labs/whip.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 8876467

Compare with similar skills

Ponytail next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.

Ponytail compared with similar skills
SkillStarsUsed inTokensAuto-checkLicenceRepo updated
Ponytail this skillcontext-labs/whip1.1k—~727Automated safety check: PassMIT
Code Design Rationale Investigatorcursor/plugins10k9 repos~2.6kAutomated safety check: PassNone
OpenLogi macOS Permissions TriageAprilNEA/OpenLogi23k—~2.5kAutomated safety check: NotesApache-2.0
Bug Finder for daisyUIsaadeghi/daisyui43k—~2.3kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Root Cause Debugginggarrytan/gstack136k—~1.4kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Review PRapache/shardingsphere21k—~6.4kAutomated safety check: PassApache-2.0

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    136k GitHub stars~1.4k tokensUpdated today
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Categories

Questions about Ponytail

What does Ponytail do?

The lazy senior dev: write the least code that works — the ponytail ladder (does it need to exist? Ponytail is an agent skill from context-labs/whip. The lazy senior dev: write the least code that works — the ponytail ladder (does it need to exist?

When should I use Ponytail?

Ponytail fits situations like: tasks that involve Root cause analysis.

How do I install Ponytail in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add context-labs/whip --skill ponytail -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (.agents/skills/ponytail in context-labs/whip) into .claude/skills/ponytail in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Ponytail in Codex?

Run `npx skills add context-labs/whip --skill ponytail -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (.agents/skills/ponytail in context-labs/whip) into .agents/skills/ponytail in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Ponytail in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add context-labs/whip --skill ponytail -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/ponytail, .gemini/skills/ponytail, .github/skills/ponytail and .opencode/skills/ponytail in your project.

What does Ponytail need to run?

SKILL.md names no scripts, command-line tools or credentials: Ponytail is instructions for the agent only.

Does Ponytail access the network?

SKILL.md contains no URLs. Any network use would come from the scripts or tools the agent runs. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Ponytail safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.

What licence does Ponytail use?

Ponytail is published under the MIT licence (declared in SKILL.md). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Ponytail use?

About 727 tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 2.9k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full.

What are the alternatives to Ponytail?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Ponytail: Code Design Rationale Investigator (cursor/plugins, 10k stars), OpenLogi macOS Permissions Triage (AprilNEA/OpenLogi, 23k stars), Bug Finder for daisyUI (saadeghi/daisyui, 43k stars) and Root Cause Debugging (garrytan/gstack, 136k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Ponytail?

context-labs (a GitHub organization) maintains it in context-labs/whip, which has 1,081 GitHub stars. The repository holds 40 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 5, 2026.

Source: context-labs/whip on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.