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 was asked, name the smaller option in one line. |
| Full | /ponytail | The smallest complete change, a check where the logic needs one, and a reply that names what was skipped and any risk. Default. |
| Ultra | /ponytail ultra | Also questions the request and pushes back before building. |

Level sticks until changed or session end.

Skills

| Skill | Trigger | What it does |
|-------|---------|--------------|
| ponytail | /ponytail | Lazy mode itself: least new code, clear replies that name skipped work and risks. |
| ponytail-review | /ponytail-review | Quality review of a diff: bugs, security, load, missing tests, speed, what to cut. Each finding says what goes wrong and how to fix it. |
| ponytail-audit | /ponytail-audit | The same quality review for the whole repo, ranked. |
| 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. |

In Codex CLI and the IDE extension, invoke skills with $ponytail:ponytail,
$ponytail:ponytail-review, or $ponytail: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=ultra

Config 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If /plugin is not recognized, your Claude Code is out of date.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