Ponytail Help Card
DietrichGebert/ponytail
Shows a one-shot quick-reference card for the ponytail skills: intensity levels, the six commands, and how to turn it off, set a default mode and update.
Quick-reference card for all ponytail modes, skills, and commands.
AGPL-3.0Auto-check passed
Install Ponytail Help
$ npx skills add usenotra/notra --skill ponytail-help -a claude-codeProject install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.
$ gh skill install usenotra/notra ponytail-help --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/usenotra/notra.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/.agents/skills/ponytail-help .claude/skills/ponytail-help && 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 "ponytail-help" agent skill from https://github.com/usenotra/notra/tree/main/.agents/skills/ponytail-help into .claude/skills/ponytail-help/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "ponytail-help", 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/usenotra/notra/tree/main/.agents/skills/ponytail-helpType 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 usenotra/notra --skill ponytail-help -a codexProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.codex/skills/.
$ gh skill install usenotra/notra ponytail-help --agent codexProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/usenotra/notra.git skills-src && mkdir -p .agents/skills && cp -r skills-src/.agents/skills/ponytail-help .agents/skills/ponytail-help && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.agents/skills/ instead of .agents/skills for a personal install.
Codex skills documentation · loads skills from .agents/skills/
Install the "ponytail-help" agent skill from https://github.com/usenotra/notra/tree/main/.agents/skills/ponytail-help into .agents/skills/ponytail-help/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "ponytail-help", 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 usenotra/notra --skill ponytail-help -a cursorProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.cursor/skills/.
$ gh skill install usenotra/notra ponytail-help --agent cursorProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/usenotra/notra.git skills-src && mkdir -p .cursor/skills && cp -r skills-src/.agents/skills/ponytail-help .cursor/skills/ponytail-help && 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 "ponytail-help" agent skill from https://github.com/usenotra/notra/tree/main/.agents/skills/ponytail-help into .cursor/skills/ponytail-help/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "ponytail-help", 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/usenotra/notra.git --path .agents/skills/ponytail-help--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 usenotra/notra --skill ponytail-help -a gemini-cliProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.gemini/skills/.
$ gh skill install usenotra/notra ponytail-help --agent gemini-cliProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/usenotra/notra.git skills-src && mkdir -p .gemini/skills && cp -r skills-src/.agents/skills/ponytail-help .gemini/skills/ponytail-help && 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 "ponytail-help" agent skill from https://github.com/usenotra/notra/tree/main/.agents/skills/ponytail-help into .gemini/skills/ponytail-help/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "ponytail-help", 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 usenotra/notra ponytail-helpInstalls 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 usenotra/notra --skill ponytail-help -a github-copilotProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.copilot/skills/.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/usenotra/notra.git skills-src && mkdir -p .github/skills && cp -r skills-src/.agents/skills/ponytail-help .github/skills/ponytail-help && 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 "ponytail-help" agent skill from https://github.com/usenotra/notra/tree/main/.agents/skills/ponytail-help into .github/skills/ponytail-help/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "ponytail-help", 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 usenotra/notra --skill ponytail-help -a opencodeOpenCode documents no install command of its own. Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.config/opencode/skills/.
$ gh skill install usenotra/notra ponytail-help --agent opencodeProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/usenotra/notra.git skills-src && mkdir -p .opencode/skills && cp -r skills-src/.agents/skills/ponytail-help .opencode/skills/ponytail-help && 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 "ponytail-help" agent skill from https://github.com/usenotra/notra/tree/main/.agents/skills/ponytail-help into .opencode/skills/ponytail-help/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "ponytail-help", 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
ponytail-help- GitHub stars
- 256
- Used in
- 3 other repos
- Token cost
- ~697 tokens
- SKILL.md length
- 275 words
- Files
- 1
- Skills in repo
- 17
- Repo updated
- First seen
- Licence
- AGPL-3.0
At a glance
Quick-reference card for all ponytail modes, skills, and commands.
- SKILL.md covers Levels, Skills, Deactivate and Configure Default Mode, plus 2 more sections
- Calls npm and brew
What it does
Ponytail Help is an agent skill from usenotra/notra. Quick-reference card for all ponytail modes, skills, and commands. One-shot display, not a persistent mode. Trigger: /ponytail-help, "ponytail help", "what ponytail commands", "how do I use ponytail".
Its SKILL.md is about 700 tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. It is a single SKILL.md file with no bundled scripts.
The repository describes itself as: Notra is a modern GEO tool that asks ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini the questions your buyers ask. See if you show up, who shows up instead and how to fix it. The licence is AGPL-3.0.
Example prompts
- “ponytail help”
- “what ponytail commands”
- “how do I use ponytail”
- “/ponytail-help”
Requirements
- Node.js
What it can do on your machine
Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 55d4d5d. 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
Shell commands in SKILL.md call:
npmbrew
From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.
Network
Links to these hosts (documentation or services it may open):
github.com
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 Help loads about 697 tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 54 tokens; SKILL.md has 275 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
The full file from usenotra/notra at commit 55d4d5d, republished under its AGPL-3.0 licence (© usenotra). 275 words, ~697 tokens.
Download SKILL.mdSave it as
.claude/skills/ponytail-help/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).- name
- ponytail-help
- description
- Quick-reference card for all ponytail modes, skills, and commands. One-shot display, not a persistent mode. Trigger: /ponytail-help, "ponytail help", "what ponytail commands", "how do I use ponytail".
Ponytail Help
Display this reference card when invoked. One-shot, do NOT change mode, write flag files, or persist anything.
Levels
| Level | Trigger | What change |
|---|---|---|
| Lite | /ponytail lite | Build what's asked, name the lazier alternative in one line. |
| Full | /ponytail | The ladder enforced: YAGNI → stdlib → native → one line → minimum. Default. |
| Ultra | /ponytail ultra | YAGNI extremist. Deletion before addition. Challenges requirements before building. |
Level sticks until changed or session end.
Skills
| Skill | Trigger | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| ponytail | /ponytail | Lazy mode itself. Simplest solution that works. |
| ponytail-review | /ponytail-review | Over-engineering review: L42: yagni: factory, one product. Inline. |
| ponytail-audit | /ponytail-audit | Whole-repo over-engineering audit: ranked list of what to delete. |
| ponytail-debt | /ponytail-debt | Harvest ponytail: shortcut comments into a tracked ledger. |
| ponytail-gain | /ponytail-gain | Measured-impact scoreboard: less code, less cost, more speed. |
| ponytail-help | /ponytail-help | This card. |
Codex uses @ponytail, @ponytail-review, and @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):
export PONYTAIL_DEFAULT_MODE=ultraConfig file (~/.config/ponytail/config.json, Windows: %APPDATA%\ponytail\config.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
© usenotra, AGPL-3.0. 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-help of usenotra/notra.
Open the folder on GitHubat commit 55d4d5d
Used in 3 other repositories
We found 3 copies of this SKILL.md (exact, near-identical or edited) in other folders, from 3 other GitHub owners. This page covers the copy in usenotra/notra, which our catalogue first saw on October 7, 2026.
Compare with similar skills
Ponytail Help 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ponytail Help this skillusenotra/notra | 256 | 3 repos | ~697 | Automated safety check: Pass | AGPL-3.0 | |
| Ponytail Help CardDietrichGebert/ponytail | 159k | — | ~726 | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT | |
| Ponytail Lazy Developer ModeDietrichGebert/ponytail | 159k | — | ~873 | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT | |
| Ponytail Minimal-Code Modediegosouzapw/OmniRoute | 74k | — | ~1.9k | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT | |
| Card Xiaohongshunexu-io/open-design | 100k | — | ~402 | Automated safety check: Pass | Apache-2.0 | |
| Ponytail Debt LedgerDietrichGebert/ponytail | 159k | — | ~453 | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT |
Similar skills
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.
Ponytail Minimal-Code Mode
diegosouzapw/OmniRoute
Pushes the agent toward the smallest working solution on coding tasks by climbing a ladder from skipping the work to reuse, standard library, native features and one-liners.
Card Xiaohongshu
nexu-io/open-design
Xiaohongshu-style knowledge cards, arranged as a swipeable multi-card carousel.
Ponytail Debt Ledger
DietrichGebert/ponytail
Collects every ponytail: comment in a codebase into one debt ledger, flags shortcuts with no upgrade trigger and reports without changing any files.
Orbit Card
heygen-com/hyperframes
HyperFrames block with one feature card that circles a dot sphere, driven by camera and card motion exported from an approved Blender rig.
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Questions about Ponytail Help
What does Ponytail Help do?
Quick-reference card for all ponytail modes, skills, and commands. Ponytail Help is an agent skill from usenotra/notra. Quick-reference card for all ponytail modes, skills, and commands.
How do I install Ponytail Help in Claude Code?
Run `npx skills add usenotra/notra --skill ponytail-help -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (.agents/skills/ponytail-help in usenotra/notra) into .claude/skills/ponytail-help in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.
How do I install Ponytail Help in Codex?
Run `npx skills add usenotra/notra --skill ponytail-help -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (.agents/skills/ponytail-help in usenotra/notra) into .agents/skills/ponytail-help in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.
Can I use Ponytail Help 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 usenotra/notra --skill ponytail-help -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-help, .gemini/skills/ponytail-help, .github/skills/ponytail-help and .opencode/skills/ponytail-help in your project.
What does Ponytail Help need to run?
Going by SKILL.md and its folder, Ponytail Help needs the command-line tools its instructions call (npm and brew). Our summary lists: Node.js.
Does Ponytail Help access the network?
SKILL.md names 1 domain. As links in the text: github.com. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.
Is Ponytail Help 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 Help use?
Ponytail Help is published under the AGPL-3.0 licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.
How many tokens does Ponytail Help use?
About 697 tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 2.8k 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 Help?
Skills that share tags, products or a category with Ponytail Help: Ponytail Help Card (DietrichGebert/ponytail, 159k stars), Ponytail Lazy Developer Mode (DietrichGebert/ponytail, 159k stars), Ponytail Minimal-Code Mode (diegosouzapw/OmniRoute, 74k stars) and Card Xiaohongshu (nexu-io/open-design, 100k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.
Who maintains Ponytail Help?
usenotra (a GitHub organization) maintains it in usenotra/notra, which has 256 GitHub stars. The repository holds 17 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 9, 2026.
Source: usenotra/notra on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.