Ponytail

Ask whether new code is necessary

Ponytail gives an agent a decision sequence before implementation: check whether the task is needed, inspect what is already present, and look for a standard or platform solution before creating another abstraction. The aim is a smaller maintenance burden while keeping required behavior intact.

For example, a request to parse a URL may already be covered by a platform URL parser. The useful question is whether it handles the project's actual inputs and error cases, not whether the replacement has the fewest lines.

Evaluate the skill on one proposed feature

1. Choose your host's installation instructions in the official repository.
2. Install or enable the skill and, where applicable, review the plugin hooks and Node.js requirement.
3. Start a fresh agent task that asks for a small feature and requires checking existing code first.
4. Review the resulting diff for reuse, tests, validation, and error handling before accepting the change.

Measure maintenance cost, not just line count

Compare the new dependency count, public API surface, and number of concepts a reviewer must understand. A slightly longer explicit implementation can be preferable to a short but opaque abstraction. Treat Ponytail as a consistent reminder to examine those choices, and continue reviewing correctness yourself.