ponytail-debt
Tracks and ledgers 'ponytail:' marked code shortcuts to prevent permanent technical debt.
Install
mkdir -p .claude/skills/ponytail-debt-loganmckerlich && curl -L -o skill.zip "https://agentskills.codes/api/skills/download/15888" && unzip -o skill.zip -d .claude/skills/ponytail-debt-loganmckerlich && rm skill.zipInstalls to .claude/skills/ponytail-debt-loganmckerlich
Activation
This is the description your AI agent reads to decide when to run this skill — the better it matches your request, the more reliably it fires.
Harvest every `ponytail:` comment in the codebase into a debt ledger, so the deliberate shortcuts and deferrals ponytail leaves behind get tracked instead of rotting into "later means never". Use when the user says "ponytail debt", "/ponytail-debt", "what did ponytail defer", "list the shortcuts", "ponytail ledger", or "what did we mark to do later". One-shot report, changes nothing.Key capabilities
- →Harvest `ponytail:` comments from the codebase
- →Create a debt ledger from `ponytail:` comments
- →Identify `ponytail:` comments without an upgrade path
- →Report the total number of markers found
- →Report the number of markers with no trigger
How it works
The skill scans the repository for `ponytail:` comments, extracts details like ceiling and upgrade path, and compiles them into a debt ledger.
Inputs & outputs
When to use ponytail-debt
- →List deferred shortcuts
- →Check for technical debt
- →Track ponytail ledger
About this skill
Every deliberate ponytail shortcut is marked with a ponytail: comment naming
its ceiling and upgrade path. This collects them into one ledger so a deferral
can't quietly become permanent.
Scan
Grep the repo for comment markers, skipping node_modules, .git, and build
output:
grep -rnE '(#|//) ?ponytail:' . (add other comment prefixes if your stack uses them)
Each hit is one ledger row. The comment prefix keeps prose that merely mentions the convention out of the ledger.
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 ponytail: <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 ponytail: 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 ponytail: debt. Clean ledger.
Boundaries
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. "stop ponytail-debt" or
"normal mode" to revert.
When not to use it
- →When the user wants to modify the codebase
- →When the user wants to persist the ledger to a file without explicit instruction
Limitations
- →Reads and reports only, changes nothing in the codebase
- →Does not persist the ledger to a file unless asked
How it compares
This skill automates the collection and reporting of `ponytail:` comments into a structured ledger, unlike manually searching and compiling them.
Compared to similar skills
ponytail-debt side by side with the closest alternatives in the catalog.
| Skill | Installs | Updated | Safety | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ponytail-debt (this skill) | 0 | 1mo | No flags | Beginner |
| syspilot.impact-python | 0 | 1mo | Review | Advanced |
| fix-annotation-from-issues | 0 | 2mo | Review | Advanced |
| tilth | 0 | 3mo | Review | Intermediate |
Try saying
Example prompts that trigger this skill in your AI assistant.
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