How to use the Ponytail Help Reference Card agent skill

What does the ponytail-help skill make the agent do?

When invoked, the skill makes the agent display a one-time reference card for the ponytail toolkit. The card covers three coding-style levels (Lite, Full and Ultra), the slash commands for review, audit, tech-debt tracking and impact stats, and how to turn the mode off, change the default, or update the plugin.

The skill is explicitly one-shot. It does not change the active mode, write flag files or save anything. It only displays documentation; the other ponytail skills do the actual review and work.

• Lite: builds what was asked and names the smaller option in one line.
• Full: the smallest complete change, with a check where the logic needs one. This is the default.
• Ultra: also questions the request and pushes back before building.

What do you need before installing?

The skill assumes the ponytail plugin is already installed in Claude Code, Codex CLI or OpenCode. The source says Claude Code is needed for the band and /plugin update commands.

The skill runs no scripts and uses no network access. It consists of a single file, SKILL.md.

• Ponytail plugin installed in Claude Code, Codex CLI, or OpenCode
• Claude Code if you want the band and /plugin update commands

How do you install the ponytail-help skill?

Download the ZIP from the item page and unzip it. For a personal install, place the folder in ~/.claude/skills/. For a single project, place it in that project's .claude/skills/ folder.

In the Claude apps you can instead upload the ZIP under Settings → Capabilities → Skills.

• Personal install: unzip into ~/.claude/skills/
• Project install: unzip into the project's .claude/skills/
• Claude apps: Settings → Capabilities → Skills, then upload the ZIP

How do you trigger the skill with a natural request?

In Claude Code and OpenCode, type the slash command /ponytail-help. In Codex CLI and the IDE extension, invoke it as $ponytail:ponytail-help. Asking the agent in plain words for the ponytail command reference should also bring up the card, since the skill is described as a quick reference for ponytail's modes, skills and commands.

Because the skill is one-shot, running it again shows the card again but does not switch your mode.

• Claude Code or OpenCode: /ponytail-help
• Codex CLI or IDE extension: $ponytail:ponytail-help

How do you change the default mode, deactivate or update?

The default mode is full and applies every session. The environment variable PONYTAIL_DEFAULT_MODE has the highest priority. Otherwise the config file at ~/.config/ponytail/config.json is read (on Windows, %APPDATA%\ponytail\config.json). If neither is set, full is used. Set "off" in the config to stop auto-activation at session start and activate manually with /ponytail.

To deactivate, say "stop ponytail" or "normal mode", and resume with /ponytail or /ponytail off. In Claude Code, /ponytail band shows or hides the status band above the prompt.

To update in Claude Code, open /plugin, go to Marketplaces, pick ponytail and enable auto-update. For a manual refresh run /plugin marketplace update ponytail and then /reload-plugins. If /plugin is not recognised, update Claude Code with npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code@latest or brew upgrade claude-code, then restart.

• Environment variable: export PONYTAIL_DEFAULT_MODE=ultra
• Config file: {"defaultMode": "lite"}
• Deactivate: say "stop ponytail" or "normal mode"