Ponytail: A Ruleset That Makes AI Coding Agents Write the Least Code That Works
Ponytail: Lazy Senior Engineer Skill
Ponytail is a plugin for AI coding agents like Claude Code, Codex, and Copilot that enforces a 'lazy senior engineer' mindset: write the least code that works. It applies a seven-step ladder—from questioning whether code is needed at all to reusing existing helpers, stdlib, and native features—before writing any new code. Benchmarks across 12 feature tasks on a FastAPI + React repo show 54% less code, 22% fewer tokens, and 27% faster results, with safety features like validation and error handling intact. Includes commands for reviewing diffs, auditing repos, and tracking deferred shortcuts.
He says nothing. He writes one line. It works.