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2026-10-03 · 9 facts · 4 sources

Ponytail: make your AI code like the laziest senior dev

vhs

The script

Screen 1
Make your AI code like the laziest senior dev.[2]
Screen 2
Tip 1: Install it in two prompts.[1]
Screen 3
Tip 2: Climb the ladder before you code: skip it, reuse it, use the stdlib, use the platform.[2][3]
Screen 4
Tip 3: Review your diff for over-building. It never cuts safety.[4][5]
Screen 5
Tip 4: Turn it up or down: lite, full, ultra, off.[6]
Screen 6
Tip 5: Check the numbers yourself: ~54% less code on average, after a critic's fix.[7][8][9]
Screen 7
Reuse first. Native next. Write last.
Screen 8
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Do it yourself

Tip 1 · from the source · source
Install it in two prompts
/plugin marketplace add DietrichGebert/ponytail
/plugin install ponytail@ponytail
Tip 2 · from the source · source
Climb the ladder before you code
<!-- ponytail: browser has one -->
<input type="date">
Tip 3 · from the source · source
Review your diff for over-building
/ponytail-review
Tip 4 · from the source · source
Turn it up or down
/ponytail lite
/ponytail ultra
/ponytail off
Tip 5 · from the source · source
Check the numbers yourself
npx promptfoo eval -c benchmarks/promptfooconfig.yaml

Facts

  1. In Claude Code you install it with two separate prompts.
    “You have to send two separate prompts for the install to work”
    DietrichGebert on GitHub: ponytail README · Original
  2. Before it writes code, the agent stops at the first rung of a 7-step ladder that holds.
    “Before writing code, the agent stops at the first rung that holds”
    DietrichGebert on GitHub: ponytail README · Original
  3. A Hacker News user calls the basic heuristics incredibly useful.
    “I think it's incredibly useful to have these basic 5 heuristics.”
    Hacker News (kamphey): Comment on "Ponytail – make your AI agent think like the laziest senior dev in the room" · Independent
  4. /ponytail-review checks your diff for over-engineering and returns a delete-list.
    “Review the current diff for over-engineering, hands back a delete-list.”
    DietrichGebert on GitHub: ponytail README · Original
  5. It never cuts validation, error handling, security or accessibility.
    “never cut validation, error handling, security, or accessibility.”
    DietrichGebert on GitHub: ponytail README · Original
  6. You can set the intensity or turn it off.
    “Set the intensity, or turn it off.”
    DietrichGebert on GitHub: ponytail README · Original
  7. The README's corrected figure: about 54% less code on average across 12 feature tasks.
    “~54% is the mean across 12 feature tasks”
    DietrichGebert on GitHub: ponytail README · Original
  8. A critic's issue said the original baseline was unfairly weak.
    “baseline scores are ~7 times better”
    GitHub issue #126 (ColinEberhardt): Benchmark issues - baseline scores are ~7 times better · Independent
  9. A Hacker News critic says it is mostly rules plus plugin boilerplate.
    “The whole thing is essentially just these rules, and a metric ton of boilerplate for specific plugin systems.”
    Hacker News (donatj): Comment on "Ponytail – make your AI agent think like the laziest senior dev in the room" · Independent

Sources

Original

Independent

Caption

Make your AI code like the laziest senior dev.

Sources:
• DietrichGebert on GitHub: https://github.com/DietrichGebert/ponytail
• GitHub issue #126 (ColinEberhardt): https://github.com/DietrichGebert/ponytail/issues/126
• Hacker News (kamphey): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48592765
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