mimocode-ponytail

Lazy senior dev mode for MiMoCode — YAGNI rules injected automatically via file hooks.

He says nothing. He writes one line. It works.

What it does

Ponytail forces the laziest solution that actually works. Before writing code, the agent stops at the first rung that holds:

1. Does this need to exist at all? → skip (YAGNI)
2. Stdlib does it? → use it
3. Native platform feature? → use it
4. Already-installed dependency? → use it
5. One line? → one line
6. Only then: the minimum that works

Installation

# Clone and copy
git clone https://github.com/Cipher208/mimocode-ponytail.git /tmp/mimocode-ponytail
mkdir -p ~/.config/mimocode/hooks
mkdir -p ~/.config/mimocode/ponytail/skills
cp /tmp/mimocode-ponytail/hooks/ponytail.ts ~/.config/mimocode/hooks/
cp /tmp/mimocode-ponytail/skills/*.md ~/.config/mimocode/ponytail/skills/

Or one-liner:

mkdir -p ~/.config/mimocode/hooks ~/.config/mimocode/ponytail/skills && \
git clone https://github.com/Cipher208/mimocode-ponytail.git /tmp/mimocode-ponytail && \
cp /tmp/mimocode-ponytail/hooks/ponytail.ts ~/.config/mimocode/hooks/ && \
cp /tmp/mimocode-ponytail/skills/*.md ~/.config/mimocode/ponytail/skills/

Then restart MiMoCode.

How it works

MiMoCode's file hooks system loads ~/.config/mimocode/hooks/ponytail.ts. This hook:

1. Injects YAGNI rules into the system prompt via experimental.chat.system.transform
2. Handles /ponytail commands via tool.execute.before
3. Persists mode to ~/.config/mimocode/ponytail/mode

The rules are injected before every LLM call — not just once. This means the agent stays in ponytail mode across the entire session.

Commands

Command	What it does
/ponytail	Show current mode
/ponytail lite	Set lite mode — name lazier alternative, user picks
/ponytail full	Set full mode (default) — ladder enforced
/ponytail ultra	Set ultra mode — YAGNI extremist
/ponytail off	Disable ponytail
/ponytail review	Review diff for over-engineering
/ponytail audit	Audit repo for bloat
/ponytail debt	List deferred shortcuts
/ponytail gain	Show impact scoreboard
/ponytail help	Quick reference

Intensity levels

Level	Behavior
lite	Build what's asked, but name the lazier alternative. User picks.
full	The ladder enforced. Stdlib and native first. Shortest diff. Default.
ultra	YAGNI extremist. Deletion before addition. Ship the one-liner.

Skills

6 bundled skills in skills/:

• ponytail.md — Main rules (YAGNI ladder)
• ponytail-review.md — Review for over-engineering
• ponytail-audit.md — Audit repo for bloat
• ponytail-debt.md — Track deferred shortcuts
• ponytail-gain.md — Impact scoreboard
• ponytail-help.md — Quick reference

Based on

This is an adaptation of DietrichGebert/ponytail (Hermes plugin) for MiMoCode's file hooks system.

Key differences:

• Hermes: pre_llm_call + pre_gateway_dispatch hooks → MiMoCode: experimental.chat.system.transform + tool.execute.before
• Mode persistence: Hermes in-memory → MiMoCode file-based (~/.config/mimocode/ponytail/mode)
• Skills: Hermes register_skill() → MiMoCode file-based skills in ponytail/skills/

License

MIT