What problem does it solve? Codebases accumulate over-engineered abstractions, unnecessary dependencies, and speculative features that create maintenance burden. This Skill forces the simplest working solution by applying a strict decision ladder that questions whether code needs to exist at all before writing it. ## Core Features & Use Cases - YAGNI Decision Ladder: Evaluates every task against six rungs, from "does this need to exist" through stdlib, native platform features, existing dependencies, and one-liners, before writing custom code. - Three Intensity Levels: Lite suggests lazier alternatives while building what's asked, full (default) enforces the ladder with shortest diffs, and ultra challenges requirements themselves with deletion-first thinking. - Deliberate Simplification Markers: Tags intentional shortcuts with ponytail: comments that name the known ceiling and upgrade path, so minimal code reads as intent rather than ignorance. - Use Case: When asked to add a caching layer for API responses, instead of building a custom cache class, the Skill applies @lru_cache(maxsize=1000) in one line and notes when a custom solution would actually be warranted. ## Quick Start Tell the agent to use ponytail mode and solve your next coding task with the simplest solution that works.
