ponytail Cursor ruleA

ponytail from dietrichgebert/ponytail is a Cursor rule: instructions the Cursor agent follows in that repo.

Install it, pinned
mdr add dietrichgebert/ponytail/.cursor/rules/ponytail.mdc@git:20261008.2a1fe84

Pins git:20261008.2a1fe84 in mdr.lock. Pin the fingerprint instead.

Audit grade
A, 14 of 14 checks passed
Kind
Cursor rule
Repository
dietrichgebert/ponytail
Path
.cursor/rules/ponytail.mdc
Versions recorded
7
Latest version
git:20261008.2a1fe84, committed Oct 8, 2026
First version recorded
Jun 12, 2026
Size
2,748 bytes
Repository stars
182,080
License
MIT

Ponytail, lazy senior dev mode. Always pick the simplest solution that works.

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

# Ponytail, lazy senior dev mode

You are a lazy senior developer. The best code is the code never written. You solve the whole problem with the least new code. End your reply with one or two lines: what you skipped or did not check, and any risk the user must know.

## Before you write

Read the task and the code it touches. List every place your change must reach: callers, tests, fixtures, config, exports. Check what your change could break for users: data it would destroy or expose, callers that stop working. That is scope. Extra features are not.

## The smallest complete change

Take the first option that fully works:

1. Does it need to exist? Skip features, options and flexibility nobody asked for, and name them in one line. A vague request ("build me X") gets the smallest version that does the core job.
2. Already in this codebase (a helper, component, service, pattern)? Use it the way the surrounding code does.
3. Standard library or a platform feature? Use it, unless the project has its own. A house component beats a native widget.
4. An installed dependency? Use it. Never add a dependency for a few lines.
5. Can it be one line a reader gets at a glance? One line.
…

Read the whole file at its exact version.

How to install

The exact contents, by fingerprint
mdr add dietrichgebert/ponytail/.cursor/rules/ponytail.mdc@sha256:851a13366056d08e

The line at the top of this page pins the label git:20261008.2a1fe84, 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.

Badge

mdr badge

[![mdr](https://markdownregistry.com/badge/art_iwrx55hajp7thlvx.svg)](https://markdownregistry.com/a/art_iwrx55hajp7thlvx)

5 badge image fetches in 30 days. What the badge shows.

Versions

The registry has recorded 7 versions of this file, between Jun 12, 2026 and Oct 8, 2026, about one every 20 days.

versioncommittedcommitsizeaudit
git:20261008.2a1fe84 latest2026-10-08 2a1fe84 2,748 BA view · diff
git:20261008.01cbf812026-10-08 01cbf81 2,739 BA view · diff
git:20260710.b6c04482026-07-10 b6c0448 2,620 BA view · diff
git:20260622.dedc97c2026-06-22 dedc97c 2,630 BA view · diff
git:20260615.f3da9102026-06-15 f3da910 1,771 BA view · diff
git:20260613.88431de2026-06-13 88431de 1,616 BA view · diff
git:20260612.cbb88592026-06-12 cbb8859 1,628 BA view

Audit of the latest version

A  14 of 14 checks passed. Fixed automatic checks with no AI involved, so the same checks give the same answer every run.
  • pass: Size between 200 bytes and 200 KB (2748 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

GitHub

dietrichgebert/ponytail · 182,080 stars · license MIT · pushed 2026-10-29 · branch main

API

GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_iwrx55hajp7thlvx
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=dietrichgebert/ponytail/.cursor/rules/ponytail.mdc
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/851a13366056d08ee32b02e7a4345769b85a6697ad3a25f347739361cde48cd8

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: Cursor rules vs AGENTS.md · which agent file does what.

More from dietrichgebert/ponytail

ponytail-audit SKILL.md skill
dietrichgebert/ponytail · .openclaw/skills/ponytail-audit/SKILL.md · Quality audit of the whole repo: bugs, security, real load, missing tests, speed, and what to delete. Most important…
git:20261008.2a1fe84 · audit A · 182,080 stars
ponytail-debt SKILL.md skill
dietrichgebert/ponytail · .openclaw/skills/ponytail-debt/SKILL.md · Harvest every shortcut: comment into one debt ledger, so deferrals get tracked instead of forgotten. One-shot report.
git:20261015.84740e3 · audit A · 182,080 stars
ponytail-gain SKILL.md skill
dietrichgebert/ponytail · .openclaw/skills/ponytail-gain/SKILL.md · Show ponytail measured impact as a scoreboard: less code, less cost, more speed, from the agentic benchmark averages…
git:20261015.84740e3 · audit A · 182,080 stars
ponytail-help SKILL.md skill
dietrichgebert/ponytail · .openclaw/skills/ponytail-help/SKILL.md · Quick reference for ponytail's modes, skills, and commands. One-shot display.
git:20261016.ca88b4f · audit A · 182,080 stars
ponytail-review SKILL.md skill
dietrichgebert/ponytail · .openclaw/skills/ponytail-review/SKILL.md · Quality review of a diff: bugs, security, real load, missing tests, speed, and what to delete. Each finding says what…
git:20261008.2a1fe84 · audit A · 182,080 stars
ponytail SKILL.md skill
dietrichgebert/ponytail · .openclaw/skills/ponytail/SKILL.md · Lazy senior dev mode for any coding task: the smallest change that fully solves it, and a reply a busy human…
git:20261008.2a1fe84 · audit A · 182,080 stars
AGENTS.md AGENTS.md file
dietrichgebert/ponytail · AGENTS.md
git:20261008.2a1fe84 · audit A · 182,080 stars
ponytail-audit SKILL.md skill
dietrichgebert/ponytail · skills/ponytail-audit/SKILL.md · Quality audit of a whole repo: bugs, security holes, what breaks under real load, risky code without tests, slow paths…
git:20261008.2a1fe84 · audit A · 182,080 stars
ponytail-debt SKILL.md skill
dietrichgebert/ponytail · skills/ponytail-debt/SKILL.md · List every `shortcut:` comment (and older `ponytail:` ones) as a debt ledger. One-shot report, changes nothing. Use for…
git:20261015.84740e3 · audit A · 182,080 stars
ponytail-gain SKILL.md skill
dietrichgebert/ponytail · skills/ponytail-gain/SKILL.md · Show ponytail's measured savings (code, cost, speed) from the benchmark. One-shot display. Use for /ponytail-gain…
git:20261015.84740e3 · audit A · 182,080 stars
ponytail-help SKILL.md skill
dietrichgebert/ponytail · skills/ponytail-help/SKILL.md · Quick reference for ponytail levels, skills and commands. One-shot display. Use for /ponytail-help, "ponytail help"…
git:20261016.ca88b4f · audit A · 182,080 stars
ponytail-review SKILL.md skill
dietrichgebert/ponytail · skills/ponytail-review/SKILL.md · Quality review of a change: is the logic right, is it safe, does it hold under real load, is risky code tested, is it…
git:20261008.2a1fe84 · audit A · 182,080 stars

Every file in dietrichgebert/ponytail

Other files named ponytail

ponytail SKILL.md skill
dietrichgebert/ponytail · .openclaw/skills/ponytail/SKILL.md · Lazy senior dev mode for any coding task: the smallest change that fully solves it, and a reply a busy human…
git:20261008.2a1fe84 · audit A · 182,080 stars
ponytail SKILL.md skill
dietrichgebert/ponytail · skills/ponytail/SKILL.md · Lazy senior dev mode: the smallest change that fully solves the task, and a reply a busy human understands in one read…
git:20261016.df9e899 · audit A · 182,080 stars
ponytail SKILL.md skill
tanstack/ai · .grok/skills/ponytail/SKILL.md · Forces the laziest solution that actually works, simplest, shortest, most minimal. Channels a senior dev who has seen…
git:20260820.9ac4a38 · audit A · 3,325 stars
ponytail SKILL.md skill
tanstack/ai · .agents/skills/ponytail/SKILL.md · Forces the laziest solution that actually works, simplest, shortest, most minimal. Channels a senior dev who has seen…
git:20260820.9ac4a38 · audit A · 3,325 stars
ponytail SKILL.md skill
tanstack/ai · .claude/skills/ponytail/SKILL.md · Forces the laziest solution that actually works, simplest, shortest, most minimal. Channels a senior dev who has seen…
git:20260820.9ac4a38 · audit A · 3,325 stars
ponytail SKILL.md skill
kunolu/640-skills · sbtd-workflow-onboard/assets/external-skills/stable/skills/ponytail/SKILL.md · Lazy senior dev mode: the smallest change that fully solves the task, and a reply a busy human understands in one read…
git:20261028.4eb8b2a · audit A · 558 stars
ponytail SKILL.md skill
mxyhi/ok-skills · ponytail/SKILL.md · Lazy senior dev mode: the smallest change that fully solves the task, and a reply a busy human understands in one read…
git:20261018.91a194f · audit A · 509 stars
ponytail SKILL.md skill
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