Collect comments marking deferred improvements into a ledger grouped by file. Record what was simplified, its stated limit, and when to revisit it, while flagging entries that lack a trigger for future action.
Harvest every shortcut: comment into one debt ledger, so deferrals get tracked instead of forgotten. One-shot report.
Run score Not tested
See how to installponytail-debt collects improvements deliberately deferred in code and organizes them into a ledger. It searches for shortcut: comments and the older ponytail: format. Entries are grouped by file and include the filename, line number, what was simplified, its stated limit, and the condition for revisiting it. Items without a revisit condition receive a no-trigger tag. The report ends with the total number of entries and the number missing a condition.
Use it when temporary solutions are scattered across the code and promises to improve them have become hard to track. It helps you take stock of implementations accepted with known limits and check when improvements will be needed. You can also specify your own marker to collect comments such as TODO.
/ponytail-debt to group deferred improvements by file.”/ponytail-debt TODO to collect TODO comments.”PONYTAIL-DEBT.md.”Normally, it reads and reports once; it writes a file when you request saving. Searches use git grep, skipping .git and files excluded by .gitignore. Limits and revisit conditions come from the comments; missing information is not filled in. The license is MIT.
This overview was written by AI (OpenAI Codex) from the public SKILL.md. Check the original below for the exact behavior.
AI checked the SKILL.md for operations that need care and for setup requirements. The score comes only from actually running the skill (hands-on test).
Not counted in the score. Rated by AI (OpenAI Codex) as of Oct 20, 2026. Treat it as a guide and read the original before installing.
Review the instructions the agent will receive before you install.
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.
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.
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>.
Flag the rot risk: any marker comment that names no upgrade path or
trigger gets a no-trigger tag, those are the ones that silently rot.
End with <N> markers, <M> with no trigger. Nothing found: No shortcut debt. Clean ledger.
Reads and reports only, changes nothing. To persist it, ask and it writes the
ledger to a file (e.g. PONYTAIL-DEBT.md). One-shot.
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Guide coding tasks toward the smallest complete change by reusing existing code, platform features, and installed dependencies. Address affected callers and necessary checks, then explain skipped work, unchecked areas, and risks in a brief reply.
Guide coding tasks toward the smallest complete change by checking affected code, reusing existing features, and avoiding unnecessary additions. It also calls for relevant checks and concise explanations of what changed, what remains unchecked, and any risks.
Review a codebase for bugs, security risks, failures under expected load, missing tests, slow paths, and unnecessary code. Receive prioritized findings with concrete failure cases, small proposed fixes, and the consequences of leaving each issue unresolved.
Audit an entire code repository or a selected folder for bugs, security risks, load problems, missing tests, slow paths, and excess code. Get up to 20 prioritized findings explaining concrete problems, minimal fixes, and consequences.
Collect comments marking deliberate coding shortcuts into a file-by-file debt ledger. The report shows each shortcut’s stated limit and revisit trigger, flags missing triggers, and leaves the code unchanged.
Display a text scoreboard of published Ponytail 5 benchmark results, comparing code volume, generated text tokens, cost, time, and check results against an agent without the skill. The figures describe benchmark averages, not savings in the current project.