ponytail-audit
Whole-repo audit for over-engineering. Like ponytail-review, but scans the entire codebase instead of a diff: a ranked list of what to delete, simplify, or replace with stdlib/native equivalents
Install / Use
npx skills add DietrichGebert/ponytail --skill ponytail-auditInstalls into whichever agent you are using.
SKILL.md
Installable skill definition
Quality Score
Category
Development & EngineeringSupported Platforms
Our assessment of ponytail-audit
ponytail-audit scores 78/100 on our quality scale, 493rd of 1,453 Development & Engineering skills we index (top 34%).
Its SKILL.md is 1.6 KB long, split into 4 sections and no code examples: moderately detailed.
With 145,162 GitHub stars, it is one of the more widely adopted skills in the catalogue.
Maintenance, license and trust
- The repository was last updated 10 days ago, so ponytail-audit is actively maintained.
- It is released under the MIT license, a permissive license that allows use, modification and commercial use with attribution.
- Its trust signals score 100/100, with no cautions. These come from repository metadata, not a code audit — read the skill file before letting an agent act on it.
Safety scan
No issues foundOur scan of the whole file found no instruction hijacking, hidden characters, credential access, data exfiltration or destructive commands.
Automated pattern scan on 2026-09-24. It catches known dangerous patterns, not every risk — read a skill before letting an agent act on it.
ponytail-audit compared with similar skills
All 4 of these similar skills score higher than ponytail-audit; compare them before choosing.
| Skill | Score | Stars | Updated | Format |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ponytail-audit (this skill)by DietrichGebert | 78 | 145.2k | 10d ago | SKILL.md |
| ai-job-searchby MadsLorentzen | 100 | 43.9k | 3d ago | CLAUDE.md |
| claude-howtoby luongnv89 | 100 | 41.7k | 5d ago | CLAUDE.md |
| algorithmic-artby anthropics | 100 | 177.9k | 2d ago | SKILL.md |
| pptxby anthropics | 100 | 177.9k | 2d ago | SKILL.md |
Frequently asked questions
- How do I install ponytail-audit?
- Run
npx skills add DietrichGebert/ponytail --skill ponytail-audit. The install tabs above show the steps for each supported agent. - Which AI agents does ponytail-audit work with?
- It is written for Universal, as a SKILL.md file. Other agents that read the same format can often use it too.
- Is ponytail-audit safe to use?
- Our scan of the whole file found no instruction hijacking, hidden characters, credential access, data exfiltration or destructive commands. It is MIT-licensed and scores 100/100 on trust signals. Skills are instructions an agent will follow, so read the file before installing it and do not approve commands you do not understand.
- Is ponytail-audit still maintained?
- The repository was last updated 10 days ago, so ponytail-audit is actively maintained.
Skill content
View source on GitHubname: ponytail-audit description: > Whole-repo audit for over-engineering. Like ponytail-review, but scans the entire codebase instead of a diff: a ranked list of what to delete, simplify, or replace with stdlib/native equivalents. Use when the user says "audit this codebase", "audit for over-engineering", "what can I delete from this repo", "find bloat", "ponytail-audit", or "/ponytail-audit". One-shot report, does not apply fixes.
ponytail-review, repo-wide. Scan the whole tree instead of a diff. Rank findings biggest cut first.
Tags
Same as ponytail-review:
delete:dead code, unused flexibility, speculative feature. Replacement: nothing.stdlib:hand-rolled thing the standard library ships. Name the function.native:dependency or code doing what the platform already does. Name the feature.yagni:abstraction with one implementation, config nobody sets, layer with one caller.shrink:same logic, fewer lines. Show the shorter form.
Hunt
Deps the stdlib or platform already ships, single-implementation interfaces, factories with one product, wrappers that only delegate, files exporting one thing, dead flags and config, hand-rolled stdlib.
Output
One line per finding, ranked: <tag> <what to cut>. <replacement>. [path].
End with net: -<N> lines, -<M> deps possible. Nothing to cut: Lean already. Ship.
Boundaries
Scope: over-engineering and complexity only. Correctness bugs, security holes, and performance are explicitly out of scope. Route them to a normal review pass. Lists findings, applies nothing. One-shot. "stop ponytail-audit" or "normal mode" to revert.
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Languages
Trust signals
From repository metadata: license, adoption, age and documentation. Not a code audit — see the Safety scan above for what the skill file itself contains.