TESIGN
SAVED

EN · KO

  1. TESIGN / RADAR
  2. ponytail

ponytail

Make your agent write less code

WHO USES ITSolo developer · Team lead

For developers

Makes a coding agent ask whether the code needs writing at all.

★ 139k▲ +1,068 / 7dDaily star increases over 14 days. Hollow bars mean no data. The last day may be partial.2026-09-03 +392026-09-04 +7912026-09-05 +8432026-09-06 +5992026-09-07 +1052026-09-08 +22026-09-09 +492026-09-10 +1032026-09-11 +3302026-09-12 +2062026-09-13 +1282026-09-14 +372026-09-15 +1352026-09-16 +129largest one-day increase in the 14 days+843last 14 days · stars per day

139,398 stars · checked on GitHub GitHub check 30 h late · incl. +146 observed via GH Archive since then · 7-day +1,068 observed via GH Archive (as of )

RANKS All-time #15 Rising this week #5 AI #13 DEV TOOLS #2

RISING +133 ★ / 24h

ponytail.dev landing page: a line-drawn developer with a ponytail on black, the title 'ponytail' and an install button.

TESIGN TAKE

The rule that matters: remove code that need not exist, but never cut validation, security or accessibility.

USE PACKAGE

AT A GLANCE

LICENSE
MIT
USAGE
Use, change and redistribute, commercially too. Keep the notice.
LANGUAGE
JavaScript
ACTIVITY
last commit 2 days ago () · latest release v4.10.0 () · 16 releases
COMMUNITY
65 contributors · 272 open issues (incl. PRs) · made by: an individual
SOURCES
GitHub
OPEN SOURCE
YES
FIRST SEEN
CATEGORY
AI · DEV TOOLS

A summary, not legal advice.

WHY IT MATTERS

Hand work to a coding agent and abstractions and options nobody asked for tend to arrive with it. ponytail makes the agent behave like the laziest senior developer in the room, biasing it towards removing code that does not need to exist. It attaches as a skill or rule set to tools such as Claude Code and Cursor, under the MIT license.

BUILD FROM THIS

  • A default agent configuration matching the team's coding rules
  • A pre-review rule set that strips out the padding first

WHO IT'S FOR

Solo developer
the agent keeps adding abstractions nobody asked for
Team lead
wants a default rule that strips padding before review

START IN 5 MINUTES

# In the Claude Code prompt, as two separate messages:
# /plugin marketplace add DietrichGebert/ponytail
# /plugin install ponytail@ponytail
# Codex:
$ codex plugin marketplace add DietrichGebert/ponytail
$ codex plugin add ponytail@ponytail

CAVEATS

  • The Claude Code and Codex plugins need Node.js on PATH for their hooks
  • On reasoning-heavy models such as GPT-5.5 it can cost more, per the README
  • The savings figures are the repository's own benchmark

RECEIPT

FIRST SEEN
AT SOURCE
KEPT
STAR DELTA
+133 ★ / 24h
CREATED → FIRST SEEN
93d
WHEN FIRST SEEN
136,829 ★
SOURCES
GitHub

The same facts in machine-readable form — View as Markdown · JSON

SIMILAR TOOLS

Up to five from AI by ★ total: edited entries first, then repository cards; this entry is highlighted. Drawn from the same stored snapshot as the rankings — a comparison, not a recommendation.

IMAGENAME★ TOTAL▲ 7dLICENSEPLATFORMLAST PUSH
ECC README banner: headline 'The operating system for AI agent harnesses', harness chips, and skill, agent and command lists.
eccSkills, memory and security for agents★ 259k▲ +832MITpermissivewindows · macos · linux · cli
Hermes Agent landing: blue background, the headline 'The agent that grows with you' and an engraving-style winged figure.
Hermes AgentSelf-improving personal agent★ 246k▲ +375MITpermissivelinux · macos · windows · android · cli
DeepSeek Harness landing: blue background, the headline 'Everything is a plugin' and a quick-start box with the npx command.
DeepSeek HarnessPlugin agent harness for developers★ 225k▲ +1,356MITpermissiveweb · cli
ponytail.dev landing page: a line-drawn developer with a ponytail on black, the title 'ponytail' and an install button.
ponytailMake your agent write less codeTHIS ENTRY★ 139k▲ +1,068MITpermissive—
mattpocock/skillsCARD★ 261k▲ +872MITpermissive—

ALSO WORTH SEEING

PodroidLinux container VM for your phonePodroid's homepage: a dark screen reading "Linux containers on Android. No root required," with a Download APK button.Install to use
★ 2.6k▲ +14 / 7d
Boots a real, separately-kernelled Alpine Linux VM on an unrooted Android phone, running Podman, Docker and LXC exactly as they behave on a server.OpenHunterAILocal AI red-team workspaceOpenHunterAI's homepage, labelled "AUTHORIZED EXTERNAL SECURITY TESTING," listing its five-stage process from scope verification to reporting.Self-host
★ 165▲ +15 / 7d
An alpha-stage local workspace that runs attacker-style security assessments — strictly against public targets you own or are authorized to test.MartinLoopExecution-control CLI for coding agentsMartinLoop's homepage headline: "Watch your AI burn $5.20. Then watch MartinLoop close the loop for $2.30."
★ 130▲ +21 / 7d
Wraps a coding agent with a spend cap and a verifier, so "I'm done" comes with an evidence-backed receipt instead of just a claim.Spec KitSpec-first process for coding agentsSpec Kit docs landing page — the headline 'Build with a spec, fix a bug, or assess an idea' and the uv tool install specify-cli commandInstall to use
★ 137k▲ +560 / 7d
Makes your coding agent write the spec first, then plan, build and verify against it.

TIMELINE

  1. Repository created
  2. FIRST SEEN BY TESIGN