Ponytail
DietrichGebert/ponytailReviewed by AI
What it does
Ponytail is one set of instructions (a prompt) plus small plugins for AI coding assistants such as Claude Code, Codex, Copilot CLI, Cursor, Gemini CLI and OpenCode. It tells the assistant to reuse existing code and built-in features before writing new code, while keeping validation, security, tests and accessibility. It adds review, audit and debt commands and, in Claude Code, a bar above the prompt with the cost, tokens and time of each task. It is for programmers who already use one of these assistants; in Claude Code you install it with two commands.
How easy it is to install
C · install 1 or 2 tools · Windows
- Windows C
- macOS C
- Linux C
Same on Windows, Mac and Linux: you need an AI coding assistant already installed plus Node.js on your PATH for the two lifecycle hooks, then you type the install commands (in Claude Code, /plugin marketplace add DietrichGebert/ponytail and /plugin install ponytail@ponytail as two separate prompts).
Numbers on GitHub
- Stars
- 181,525on Oct 31, 2026
- Downloads
- —all releases
- Growth
- +4,376stars in 5 days
Stars over time
Facts
- Runs on
- Windows, macOS, Linux
- You need to install
- Node.js, Other tools
- To build from source
- Node.js
- Disk space
- 100 MB–500 MB · estimate
- Accounts or keys
- AI coding assistant account (for example Claude Code, Codex or Gemini CLI)
- Cost
- Free, API costs extra · Ponytail is free (MIT). It only works inside an AI coding assistant, which usually needs a paid plan or paid API usage; the package does not state prices.
- License
- MIT (Permissive)
- Can replace
- CodeRabbit
- Last update
- Oct 29, 2026
Risk signals (5)
- Attentionunusual star rate
180209 stars in 140 days (~1287 per day)
automatic check
- Inforuns hooks on agent events
INSTALL.md: "The Claude Code and Codex plugins (and the Cursor hooks) run two tiny Node.js lifecycle hooks, so `node` needs to be on your PATH"; in Codex you must "review and trust its two lifecycle hooks".
AI review
- Infoself reported benchmarks
README.md headline numbers "-53% code · -41% time · -26% cost · -45% tokens" come from the author's own benchmark ("39 tasks ... Opus 5.5, 5 runs each", benchmarks/results/2026-10-07-agentic.md), not an independent test.
AI review
- Inforeads past agent sessions
README.md: "`/ponytail band import` adds your past Claude Code sessions to it, with their cost, agent time and tokens"; the data is kept "By default ... on your machine, in `~/.config/ponytail/band/`".
AI review
- Infowarning about fake copies
README.md: "Only install ponytail from `DietrichGebert/ponytail` on GitHub or `@dietrichgebert/ponytail` on npm. It never ships `.exe` or `.dll` files; a copy that does is not mine."
AI review
Evidence is shown in its original language.
What Radar could not check
- Whether the claimed savings in code, time and cost hold on your own projects.
- Exactly what the two Node.js hooks do on each prompt and whether any data leaves your machine.
- Whether the install works with the version of your AI coding assistant, especially on Windows.
- How the extra instructions added to every turn change your AI usage bill.
- What the local board page stores about your past sessions.