One file. No plugin. He would have wanted it this way.
“Ponytail Lite” is Ponytail without the plugin madness.
Not to be confused with Ponytail’s lite mode. This is a separate one-file version.
Just copy AGENTS.md into the place your agent reads instructions. That’s it. No plugin, hooks, commands, MCP, or mode switching.
The Joke
Ponytail is a beautiful contradiction: an anti-overengineering tool delivered as a whole plugin ecosystem, with lifecycle hooks, slash commands, MCP, statuslines, adapter tests, and enough install paths to make a senior engineer stare silently at the wall.
Ponytail Lite is what a lazy senior dev would have expected:
AGENTS.md
Why This Exists
Could you just copy AGENTS.md from Ponytail? Yes… But:
The AGENTS.md here is not a byte-for-byte copy. It is an opinionated cleanup of the original: same lazy senior dev idea, less plugin baggage, and guardrails rewritten for people who just want the file.
Install
Copy AGENTS.md, or copy the same text into whatever your agent calls “project instructions” or “rules”.
Agent
Put the Ponytail Lite text here
Aider
Your project instructions / conventions file
Antigravity CLI
AGENTS.md or .agents/rules/ponytail.md
Claude Code
CLAUDE.md or project instructions
Cline
.clinerules/ponytail.md
CodeWhale
AGENTS.md
Codex
AGENTS.md or Settings > Personalization > Custom instructions
Cursor
.cursor/rules/ponytail.mdc
Devin CLI
Custom instructions / project instructions
Gemini CLI
AGENTS.md
GitHub Copilot
.github/copilot-instructions.md
GitHub Copilot CLI
AGENTS.md, .github/copilot-instructions.md, or ~/.copilot/copilot-instructions.md
Hermes Agent
Custom instructions / system prompt
Kiro
.kiro/steering/ponytail.md
OpenClaw
Custom skill / instruction file
OpenCode
AGENTS.md or OpenCode instructions
Pi agent
Custom instructions / system prompt
Swival
AGENTS.md or ~/.config/swival/AGENTS.md
Windsurf
.windsurf/rules/ponytail.md
Zed
Custom instructions / rules
Uninstall
Delete the file you copied.
If you pasted the text into a global instructions file, delete that paragraph.
No leftover mode flag, statusline entry, and hidden MCP server still thinking about your dependency graph.
What It Does
Before writing code, the agent climbs this ladder:
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