Ponytail

Q: What is a Claude Code skill and how does the Ponytail skill fit in?

A Claude Code skill is a SKILL.md file that lives under ~/.claude/skills/<name>/ and tells the Claude Code CLI agent how to perform a specific task (instructions, prompts, allowed tools). Skills are auto-discovered at session start. Ponytail is one of 67,000+ skills indexed in the open ClaudSkills catalog, classified under the Dev Tools category. Learn more at https://claudskills.com/learn/what-is-skill-md/.

Category: Dev Tools · Sub-category: scaffolders · Last updated: 2026-06-13

Forces the laziest solution that actually works — simplest, shortest, most minimal. Channels a senior dev who has seen everything: question whether the task needs to exist at all (YAGNI), reach for the standard library before custom code, native platform features before dependencies, one line before fifty. Supports intensity levels: lite, full (default), ultra. Use whenever the user says "ponytail", "be lazy", "lazy mode", "simplest solution", "minimal solution", "yagni", "do less", or "shortest path" — and whenever they complain about over-engineering, bloat, boilerplate, or unnecessary dependencies.

From the source SKILL.md

You are a lazy senior developer. Lazy means efficient, not careless. You have seen every over-engineered codebase and been paged at 3am for one. The best code is the code never written.

What this skill does

Ponytail is a community-contributed Claude Code skill in the scaffolders sub-category. It ships as a SKILL.md file that Claude Code auto-discovers under ~/.claude/skills/ponytail/ and loads when your prompt matches the skill's trigger.

When to invoke it: Use whenever the user says "ponytail", "be lazy", "lazy mode", "simplest solution", "minimal solution", "yagni", "do less", or "shortest path" — and whenever they complain about over-engineering, bloat, boilerplate, or unnecessary dependencies.

Who uses this skill

The Ponytail Claude Code skill is built for developers, power users, and teams automating repetitive workflows and improving developer experience. It's part of ClaudSkills (also referred to as Claude Skills or Claude Code Skills) — the open community-curated registry of 116,000+ SKILL.md files for Anthropic's Claude Code agent and the wider Claude ecosystem (Claude API, Claude Agent SDK).

How to install

Free

Manual install (2 steps)

mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills/ponytail
curl -L https://claudskills.com/skills/ponytail/SKILL.md \
  -o ~/.claude/skills/ponytail/SKILL.md

Or just download SKILL.md directly and drop it into ~/.claude/skills/ponytail/. Claude Code auto-discovers it on next session.

Skills live at ~/.claude/skills/ponytail/SKILL.md on macOS/Linux, or %USERPROFILE%\.claude\skills\ponytail\SKILL.md on Windows. See the full install guide for step-by-step instructions.

📱 Install from your phone or desktop Telegram

Open @claudskills_bot on Telegram, tap Open Desktop App, and the desktop app installs this skill for you. Or share the bot link with a colleague — they get the same one-tap install. Learn more →

Pro

One-click install via the desktop app

The ClaudSkills desktop app installs any skill directly into ~/.claude/skills/ with one click — no terminal required. Pro starts at $9/mo or $149 lifetime.

Pro

For the full experience including quality scoring and one-click install features for each skill — upgrade to Pro.

See pricing → Download desktop app

Frequently asked questions

How do I install the Ponytail Claude Code skill?

Install via the ClaudSkills desktop app (one click) or copy SKILL.md from the source repository to ~/.claude/skills/ponytail/SKILL.md and restart Claude Code. Both flows are detailed at claudskills.com/install/.

What does the Ponytail skill do?

Is this skill free to install?

Yes. ClaudSkills is an open registry — every skill keeps its source repository's license, and manual install via copy is free. ClaudSkills Pro ($9/mo, $79/yr, or $149 one-time) adds one-click install via the desktop app and a multi-signal Quality Score.

When should I use the Ponytail skill?

Use Ponytail when your Claude Code task falls under the Dev Tools category — specifically in the scaffolders area. Claude Code auto-discovers installed skills and invokes the right one based on the task description, so you can also ask Claude directly (e.g. "use Ponytail" or describe the task and let Claude pick). Browse related skills at /category/tools/.

What is a Claude Code skill and how does the Ponytail skill fit in?

A Claude Code skill is a SKILL.md file that lives under ~/.claude/skills/<name>/ and tells the Claude Code CLI agent how to perform a specific task (instructions, prompts, allowed tools). Skills are auto-discovered at session start. Ponytail is one of 67,000+ skills indexed in the open ClaudSkills catalog, classified under the Dev Tools category. Learn more at /learn/what-is-a-claude-skill/.

Attribution & license

Source: https://github.com/DietrichGebert/ponytail/blob/HEAD/skills/ponytail/SKILL.md
License: MIT
Author: DietrichGebert

Cite this skill

If you reference this skill in a blog post, paper, or documentation, you can cite it as:

APA

DietrichGebert. (2026). Ponytail [Claude Code skill]. ClaudSkills. https://claudskills.com/skills/ponytail/

BibTeX

@misc{ponytail-2026,
  author    = {DietrichGebert},
  title     = {Ponytail [Claude Code skill]},
  year      = {2026},
  publisher = {ClaudSkills},
  url       = {https://claudskills.com/skills/ponytail/}
}

Embed this skill

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Badge

[![ClaudSkills](https://claudskills.com/badge/ponytail.svg)](https://claudskills.com/skills/ponytail/?utm_source=badge&utm_medium=readme&utm_campaign=skill_badge)

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