ponytail-gain
Show ponytail's measured savings (code, cost, speed) from the benchmark. One-shot display. Use for /ponytail-gain, "what does ponytail save", "ponytail impact".
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Install
Works with every agent the skills CLI supports.
npx skills add https://github.com/dietrichgebert/ponytail --skill ponytail-gain- 01
Install
Run the command in your project. The CLI asks which agents to install for.
- 02
Describe the task
Ask your agent for something this skill covers. It loads ponytail-gain automatically when relevant.
- 03
Review the result
The agent follows the SKILL.md steps, scripts and references bundled with the skill.
Security audits
Independent scans of the skill's instructions and bundled files.
SKILL.md
The instructions your agent reads when the skill is triggered.
Ponytail Gain
Display this scoreboard when invoked. One-shot: do NOT change mode, write flag files, or persist anything.
The figures are the published agentic benchmark of Ponytail 5: headless Claude
Code (Opus 5.5, default effort) on 39 tasks (feature tickets in a real FastAPI +
React repo, bug fixes, security and privacy cases, small apps), 5 runs each,
against the same agent without the skill. 18 of the tasks have hidden checks
for correctness and safety. Each figure is the geometric mean of the per-task
medians. They are measured, not computed from the current repo.
Source: benchmarks/results/2026-10-07-agentic.md and the README.
Scoreboard
Render plain ASCII bars. The bar length shows ponytail as a share of the no-skill baseline; the label carries the exact figure:
ponytail gain benchmark · 39 tasks × 5 runs · Opus 5.5
no-skill ████████████████████ 100%
Lines of code █████████··········· 47% ▼ 53%
Output tokens ███████████········· 55% ▼ 45%
Cost ███████████████····· 74% ▼ 26%
Time ████████████········ 59% ▼ 41%
Hidden checks passed 97% (no-skill 96%)
Tests where the logic needs one 98% (no-skill 68%)
This repo: /ponytail-debt (shortcuts you deferred)
/ponytail-audit (what's still cuttable)
Honesty boundary
These are benchmark averages, not this repo. NEVER print a per-repo savings
number ("you saved X lines/tokens here"): the unbuilt version was never
written, so there is no real baseline to subtract from in a live repo. The
only real per-repo figures come from /ponytail-debt (a counted ledger), and
this card points there instead of inventing one.
Boundaries
One-shot display. Edits nothing, changes no mode.
FAQ
What does the ponytail-gain skill do?
Show ponytail's measured savings (code, cost, speed) from the benchmark. One-shot display. Use for /ponytail-gain, "what does ponytail save", "ponytail impact".
How do I install ponytail-gain?
Run npx skills add https://github.com/dietrichgebert/ponytail --skill ponytail-gain in your project. The skills CLI detects the agents you use and copies the skill into the right folder. For Claude Code you can also place the skill folder at ~/.claude/skills/ponytail-gain/ (personal) or .claude/skills/ponytail-gain/ (project).
Which AI agents can use ponytail-gain?
Any agent that supports the open Agent Skills format (a folder with a SKILL.md file), including Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, Windsurf, Cline, OpenCode and more.
Is ponytail-gain safe to install?
Security partners have reviewed it: Gen Agent Trust Hub passed; Socket passed; Snyk passed. As with any skill, read the SKILL.md and bundled scripts before installing.
Who maintains ponytail-gain?
It is published by dietrichgebert in dietrichgebert/ponytail. It has 41,836 recorded installs.
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