ponytail-debt SKILL.md skillA
ponytail-debt from dietrichgebert/ponytail is an agent skill: a SKILL.md folder an AI agent loads when a task calls for it.
mdr add dietrichgebert/ponytail/ponytail-debt@git:20261015.84740e3Pins git:20261015.84740e3 in mdr.lock. Pin the fingerprint instead.
- Audit grade
- A, 17 of 17 checks passed
- Kind
- SKILL.md skill
- Repository
- dietrichgebert/ponytail
- Path
skills/ponytail-debt/SKILL.md- Versions recorded
- 7
- Latest version
- git:20261015.84740e3, committed Oct 15, 2026
- First version recorded
- Jun 15, 2026
- Size
- 1,769 bytes
- Repository stars
- 182,080
- License
- MIT
List every `shortcut:` comment (and older `ponytail:` ones) as a debt ledger. One-shot report, changes nothing. Use for "ponytail debt", "what did ponytail defer", "list the shortcuts", /ponytail-debt.
Collected from public GitHub. Every version is saved exactly as it was and never changes. Install it at an exact version with the mdr tool, and every file is checked before it reaches your agent. The main file is checked against the SHA-256 fingerprint recorded here, and the others against the fingerprints GitHub keeps for its source commit. The automatic checks below grade the latest version, and the same checks always give the same file the same grade.
What the file says
Every deliberate ponytail shortcut is marked with a `shortcut:` comment naming its ceiling and upgrade path (older code may say `ponytail:`). This collects them into one ledger so a deferral can't quietly become permanent. ## Scan Grep the repo for comment markers, skipping `.git` and everything the `.gitignore` files ignore (dependencies, build output, caches, in any stack): `git grep --no-index --exclude-standard -nE '(#|//|/[*]) ?(shortcut|ponytail):'` (add other comment prefixes if your stack uses them) If the user names their own marker word (`/ponytail-debt TODO`), grep for that word instead. Each hit is one ledger row. The comment prefix keeps prose that merely mentions the convention out of the ledger. Skip hits that are not a deferral, like a note about a keyboard shortcut. ## Output One row per marker, grouped by file: `<file>:<line>, <what was simplified>. ceiling: <the limit named>. upgrade: <the trigger to revisit>.` The convention is `shortcut: <ceiling>, <upgrade path>`, so pull the ceiling and the trigger straight from the comment. Want an owner per row too? add `git blame -L<line>,<line>`. …
Read the whole file at its exact version.
How to install
mdr add dietrichgebert/ponytail/ponytail-debt@sha256:b5ec2762f6ba8c4aThe line at the top of this page pins the label git:20261015.84740e3, which is what most people want. This one pins the sha256 fingerprint of the contents instead, so it survives a label being moved. Either way the exact version is written to mdr.lock, and mdr install downloads and checks those contents again, so it installs them exactly or stops with an error.
[](https://markdownregistry.com/a/art_725mxccfs6zoz6ou)
6 badge image fetches in 30 days. What the badge shows.
Versions
The registry has recorded 7 versions of this file, between Jun 15, 2026 and Oct 15, 2026, about one every 20 days.
| version | committed | commit | size | audit | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| git:20261015.84740e3 latest | 2026-10-15 | 84740e3 | 1,769 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20261012.57635bd | 2026-10-12 | 57635bd | 1,818 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20261008.2a1fe84 | 2026-10-08 | 2a1fe84 | 1,810 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20261008.01cbf81 | 2026-10-08 | 01cbf81 | 1,584 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20261003.b52dd9b | 2026-10-03 | b52dd9b | 1,793 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260619.ff5d093 | 2026-06-19 | ff5d093 | 1,703 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260615.d9e1480 | 2026-06-15 | d9e1480 | 1,706 B | A | view |
Audit of the latest version
- pass: Frontmatter block present
- pass: Frontmatter declares a name
- pass: Frontmatter declares a description
- pass: Size between 200 bytes and 200 KB (1769 bytes)
- pass: No zero-width or bidi control characters
- pass: No instruction hidden inside an HTML comment
- pass: No link to an exfiltration or paste host
- pass: No credential-shaped string
- pass: No instruction to send local credentials anywhere
- pass: No text hidden with inline styles
- pass: No prompt-injection phrasing
- pass: No curl or wget piped into a shell
- pass: No recursive delete of root, home or parent
- pass: No instruction to read or print local credentials
- pass: No base64 blob over 200 characters
- pass: No link to a raw IP address
- pass: No script tag
Source
dietrichgebert/ponytail · 182,080 stars · license MIT · pushed 2026-10-29 · branch main
API
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_725mxccfs6zoz6ou GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=dietrichgebert/ponytail/ponytail-debt GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/b5ec2762f6ba8c4af9ea7173aa6c9f91b88655a25e43f9de0264f6ce8722b25f
Your AI assistant does the legwork. You hear about the deals worth your word. Hand yours the standing instructions at modelranch.com and it joins the network that reads files like this one.
Guides: the SKILL.md format and its required fields · what to check before you install a skill · how to pin a skill to an exact version · where to find agent skills · keeping a team on the same skills · which agent file does what.
More from dietrichgebert/ponytail
Every file in dietrichgebert/ponytail