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 for any coding task by applying a strict decision ladder: question whether the work is needed at all (YAGNI), reuse existing code, prefer the standard library and native platform features, and only write new code as a last resort. ## Core Features & Use Cases - Solution Ladder: A seven-step decision hierarchy that stops at the first sufficient rung, from YAGNI rejection down to minimal new code. - Intensity Levels: Three modes (lite, full, ultra) control how aggressively simplification is enforced, switchable via /ponytail lite|full|ultra. - Root-Cause Bug Fixing: Requires tracing all callers before editing so fixes land once in shared code rather than patched per symptom. - Use Case: When asked to add a response cache, instead of building a custom cache class, the Skill applies @lru_cache(maxsize=1000) and notes in one line what was skipped and when to revisit it. ## Quick Start Ask the assistant to use ponytail mode to implement or refactor a piece of code with the simplest solution that works.
