Ponytail Lazy Developer Mode
DietrichGebert/ponytail
Makes the agent pick the laziest solution that works: skip unneeded work, reuse what exists, prefer the standard library and platform features, and keep diffs small.
Apply when sequencing an addition, refactor, or rewrite. An agent skill from cursor/plugins.
Install Principle Subtract Before You Add
$ npx skills add cursor/plugins --skill principle-subtract-before-you-add -a claude-codeProject install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.
$ gh skill install cursor/plugins principle-subtract-before-you-add --agent claude-codeProject scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/cursor/plugins.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/pstack/skills/principle-subtract-before-you-add .claude/skills/principle-subtract-before-you-add && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.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/
Install the "principle-subtract-before-you-add" agent skill from https://github.com/cursor/plugins/tree/main/pstack/skills/principle-subtract-before-you-add into .claude/skills/principle-subtract-before-you-add/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "principle-subtract-before-you-add", then confirm the skill loads.Claude Code copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$skill-installer install https://github.com/cursor/plugins/tree/main/pstack/skills/principle-subtract-before-you-addType this inside Codex. $skill-installer <name> installs a curated skill from openai/skills. The installer writes to $CODEX_HOME/skills (default ~/.codex/skills). Restart Codex if the skill does not show up.
$ npx skills add cursor/plugins --skill principle-subtract-before-you-add -a codexProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.codex/skills/.
$ gh skill install cursor/plugins principle-subtract-before-you-add --agent codexProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/cursor/plugins.git skills-src && mkdir -p .agents/skills && cp -r skills-src/pstack/skills/principle-subtract-before-you-add .agents/skills/principle-subtract-before-you-add && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.agents/skills/ instead of .agents/skills for a personal install.
Codex skills documentation · loads skills from .agents/skills/
Install the "principle-subtract-before-you-add" agent skill from https://github.com/cursor/plugins/tree/main/pstack/skills/principle-subtract-before-you-add into .agents/skills/principle-subtract-before-you-add/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "principle-subtract-before-you-add", then confirm the skill loads.Codex copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$ npx skills add cursor/plugins --skill principle-subtract-before-you-add -a cursorProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.cursor/skills/.
$ gh skill install cursor/plugins principle-subtract-before-you-add --agent cursorProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/cursor/plugins.git skills-src && mkdir -p .cursor/skills && cp -r skills-src/pstack/skills/principle-subtract-before-you-add .cursor/skills/principle-subtract-before-you-add && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.cursor/skills/ instead of .cursor/skills for a personal install.
Cursor skills documentation · loads skills from .cursor/skills/, .agents/skills/, .claude/skills/, .codex/skills/
Install the "principle-subtract-before-you-add" agent skill from https://github.com/cursor/plugins/tree/main/pstack/skills/principle-subtract-before-you-add into .cursor/skills/principle-subtract-before-you-add/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "principle-subtract-before-you-add", then confirm the skill loads.Cursor copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$ gemini skills install https://github.com/cursor/plugins.git --path pstack/skills/principle-subtract-before-you-add--scope user (default) or --scope workspace; --path is the subfolder of the repo that holds the skill; --consent skips the security confirmation prompt.
$ npx skills add cursor/plugins --skill principle-subtract-before-you-add -a gemini-cliProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.gemini/skills/.
$ gh skill install cursor/plugins principle-subtract-before-you-add --agent gemini-cliProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/cursor/plugins.git skills-src && mkdir -p .gemini/skills && cp -r skills-src/pstack/skills/principle-subtract-before-you-add .gemini/skills/principle-subtract-before-you-add && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.gemini/skills/ instead of .gemini/skills for a personal install, then run /skills reload.
Gemini CLI skills documentation · loads skills from .gemini/skills/, .agents/skills/
Install the "principle-subtract-before-you-add" agent skill from https://github.com/cursor/plugins/tree/main/pstack/skills/principle-subtract-before-you-add into .gemini/skills/principle-subtract-before-you-add/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "principle-subtract-before-you-add", then confirm the skill loads.Gemini CLI copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$ gh skill install cursor/plugins principle-subtract-before-you-addInstalls for Copilot at project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Preview a skill first with gh skill preview. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).
$ npx skills add cursor/plugins --skill principle-subtract-before-you-add -a github-copilotProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.copilot/skills/.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/cursor/plugins.git skills-src && mkdir -p .github/skills && cp -r skills-src/pstack/skills/principle-subtract-before-you-add .github/skills/principle-subtract-before-you-add && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.copilot/skills/ instead of .github/skills for a personal install. Commit .github/skills so cloud agent and code review can use it.
GitHub Copilot skills documentation · loads skills from .github/skills/, .claude/skills/, .agents/skills/
Install the "principle-subtract-before-you-add" agent skill from https://github.com/cursor/plugins/tree/main/pstack/skills/principle-subtract-before-you-add into .github/skills/principle-subtract-before-you-add/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "principle-subtract-before-you-add", then confirm the skill loads.GitHub Copilot copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$ npx skills add cursor/plugins --skill principle-subtract-before-you-add -a opencodeOpenCode documents no install command of its own. Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.config/opencode/skills/.
$ gh skill install cursor/plugins principle-subtract-before-you-add --agent opencodeProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/cursor/plugins.git skills-src && mkdir -p .opencode/skills && cp -r skills-src/pstack/skills/principle-subtract-before-you-add .opencode/skills/principle-subtract-before-you-add && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.config/opencode/skills/ instead of .opencode/skills for a personal install.
OpenCode skills documentation · loads skills from .opencode/skills/, .claude/skills/, .agents/skills/
Install the "principle-subtract-before-you-add" agent skill from https://github.com/cursor/plugins/tree/main/pstack/skills/principle-subtract-before-you-add into .opencode/skills/principle-subtract-before-you-add/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "principle-subtract-before-you-add", then confirm the skill loads.OpenCode copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
Facts
- Skill name
principle-subtract-before-you-add- GitHub stars
- 11k
- Used in
- 4 other repos
- Token cost
- ~274 tokens
- SKILL.md length
- 121 words
- Files
- 1
- Skills in repo
- 99
- Repo updated
- First seen
- Licence
- None found
At a glance
Apply when sequencing an addition, refactor, or rewrite. An agent skill from cursor/plugins.
- Tasks that involve Code simplification
- Instructions only: no scripts, shell commands, URLs or credentials in SKILL.md
What it does
Principle Subtract Before You Add is an agent skill from cursor/plugins, published by the product's own GitHub organization. Apply when sequencing an addition, refactor, or rewrite. Remove dead code, redundant validators, and stub references first, then build on the simpler base.
Its SKILL.md is about 270 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 Code simplification. The repository describes itself as: Cursor plugin specification and official plugins.
When your agent uses it
- Tasks that involve Code simplification
Example prompts
- “/principle-subtract-before-you-add”
What it can do on your machine
Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit d73344b. 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
Principle Subtract Before You Add loads about 274 tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 47 tokens; SKILL.md has 121 words of instructions outside code blocks.
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
Without a licence we can't republish the file, so here is its outline and opening line. It has 121 words (~274 tokens).
“When evolving a system, remove complexity first, then build.”
- name
- principle-subtract-before-you-add
- disable-model-invocation
- true
Files
Just SKILL.md in pstack/skills/principle-subtract-before-you-add of cursor/plugins.
Open the folder on GitHubat commit d73344b
Used in 4 other repositories
We found 4 copies of this SKILL.md (exact, near-identical or edited) in other folders, from 4 other GitHub owners. This page covers the copy in cursor/plugins, which our catalogue first saw on October 7, 2026.
Compare with similar skills
Principle Subtract Before You Add 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.
| Skill | Stars | Used in | Tokens | Auto-check | Licence | Repo updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Principle Subtract Before You Add this skillcursor/plugins | 11k | 4 repos | ~274 | Automated safety check: Pass | None | |
| Ponytail Lazy Developer ModeDietrichGebert/ponytail | 160k | 1 repos | ~873 | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT | |
| Ponytail Reviewkortix-ai/suna | 20k | 4 repos | ~593 | Automated safety check: Pass | Custom licence | |
| PonytailDavidObando/gsharp | 565 | 7 repos | ~1.7k | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT | |
| Code Simplification for ego-litecitrolabs/ego-lite | 17k | — | ~1.2k | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT | |
| Refactor Pass for Simplicitystar-history/star-history | 9.6k | 1 repos | ~168 | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT |
Similar skills
Ponytail Review
kortix-ai/suna
Code review focused exclusively on over-engineering. An agent skill from kortix-ai/suna.
Ponytail
DavidObando/gsharp
Forces the laziest solution that actually works, simplest, shortest, most minimal.
Code Simplification for ego-lite
citrolabs/ego-lite
Finds and implements evidence-backed simplifications in the ego-lite repository, such as dead code, duplicated state and speculative abstractions, without hiding behavior changes.
Refactor Pass for Simplicity
star-history/star-history
Perform a refactor pass focused on simplicity after recent changes. Use when the user asks for a refactor/cleanup pass, simplification, or dead-code removal…
RTK Rust Code Simplifier
rtk-ai/rtk
Reviews RTK's Rust code for over-engineering and verbose patterns, applying idioms like iterator chains and early returns while protecting a specific list of constraints from being simplified away.
More from cursor/plugins
All 99 skills in this repo- Official
Show Me Your Work Decision Log
cursor/plugins
Keeps a TSV decision log for long or unattended agent runs, one row per decision with what, why, evidence and result, so a reviewer can check the work later.
- Official
Code Design Rationale Investigator
cursor/plugins
Digs into why code is shaped the way it is by checking git history, pull requests and connected tools in parallel, then reporting a cited read on the tradeoffs.
- Official
Reflect on Session Learnings
cursor/plugins
Starts three parallel reviewer subagents over the current conversation transcript, then turns their findings into concrete edits to existing skills.
- Official
Technical Writing Standard
cursor/plugins
Applies four layers of technical-writing rules to docs, RFCs, readmes, PR descriptions and commit messages so a tired engineer follows them on the first read.
- Official
Advisor Mode
cursor/plugins
Adds a second, stronger model that the main agent consults before major decisions, when stuck and before finishing, controlled by /advisor commands.
- Official
Make PR Easy To Review
cursor/plugins
Prepare PRs for review by cleaning noisy history, improving PR descriptions, and adding reviewer guidance without changing code behavior.
Related
Categories
Questions about Principle Subtract Before You Add
What does Principle Subtract Before You Add do?
Apply when sequencing an addition, refactor, or rewrite. An agent skill from cursor/plugins. Principle Subtract Before You Add is an agent skill from cursor/plugins, published by the product's own GitHub organization. Apply when sequencing an addition, refactor, or rewrite.
When should I use Principle Subtract Before You Add?
Principle Subtract Before You Add fits situations like: tasks that involve Code simplification.
How do I install Principle Subtract Before You Add in Claude Code?
Run `npx skills add cursor/plugins --skill principle-subtract-before-you-add -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (pstack/skills/principle-subtract-before-you-add in cursor/plugins) into .claude/skills/principle-subtract-before-you-add in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.
How do I install Principle Subtract Before You Add in Codex?
Run `npx skills add cursor/plugins --skill principle-subtract-before-you-add -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (pstack/skills/principle-subtract-before-you-add in cursor/plugins) into .agents/skills/principle-subtract-before-you-add in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.
Can I use Principle Subtract Before You Add 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 cursor/plugins --skill principle-subtract-before-you-add -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/principle-subtract-before-you-add, .gemini/skills/principle-subtract-before-you-add, .github/skills/principle-subtract-before-you-add and .opencode/skills/principle-subtract-before-you-add in your project.
What does Principle Subtract Before You Add need to run?
SKILL.md names no scripts, command-line tools or credentials: Principle Subtract Before You Add is instructions for the agent only.
Does Principle Subtract Before You Add 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 Principle Subtract Before You Add 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 Principle Subtract Before You Add use?
No licence was found for Principle Subtract Before You Add or its repository. Without one, default copyright applies: ask the author before reusing or redistributing it.
How many tokens does Principle Subtract Before You Add use?
About 274 tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 1.1k 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 Principle Subtract Before You Add?
Skills that share tags, products or a category with Principle Subtract Before You Add: Ponytail Lazy Developer Mode (DietrichGebert/ponytail, 160k stars), Ponytail Review (kortix-ai/suna, 20k stars), Ponytail (DavidObando/gsharp, 565 stars) and Code Simplification for ego-lite (citrolabs/ego-lite, 17k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.
Who maintains Principle Subtract Before You Add?
cursor (a GitHub organization, an official publisher) maintains it in cursor/plugins, which has 10,636 GitHub stars. The repository holds 99 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 10, 2026.
Source: cursor/plugins on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.