ponytail-debtcommit 84740e3SKILL.md · Refactoring
Ponytail Debt Ledger
Collects every shortcut: comment (and older ponytail: ones) in the repo into a one-shot technical debt ledger without changing anything.
npx skills add DietrichGebert/ponytail --skill ponytail-debtCommand selected. Copy it manually.
- Permissions
- read-repo
- write-files
- shell
- network
- Compatible with
- Claude Code, Codex, Cursor
- GitHub
- 181.7k
- Source
- Community · DietrichGebert
- Status
- Scan passed
- License
- MIT
- Category
- Refactoring
Core rule
Read and report only; change nothing unless asked to save the ledger to a file.
Execution Phases
Phase 01Scan for markers
Use git grep for shortcut:, ponytail: or a user-named marker word, skipping .git and anything .gitignore excludes.
Phase 02Build the ledger
One row per marker, grouped by file, with what was simplified, its ceiling and upgrade trigger; skip non-deferral hits and optionally add owners via git blame.
Phase 03Flag rot risk
Tag any marker that names no upgrade path or trigger as no-trigger.
Phase 04Summarize
End with the marker count and how many lack a trigger, or report a clean ledger; write PONYTAIL-DEBT.md only if asked.
Permissions (summarised from SKILL.md)
| Capability | Needed | Details |
|---|---|---|
| File writes | Limited | Writes nothing by default; saves the ledger to a file such as PONYTAIL-DEBT.md only when asked. |
| Command execution | Limited | Only runs git grep to find markers and, optionally, git blame. |
| Network outbound | Not required | No network access is needed. |
SKILL.md frontmatter (YAML)
---
name: ponytail-debt
description: >
List every `shortcut:` comment (and older `ponytail:` ones) as a debt ledger. One-shot report,
changes nothing. Use for "ponytail debt", "what did ponytail defer", "list the
shortcuts", /ponytail-debt.
---