# ponytail changelog

> ponytail release notes.

- Vendor: ponytail
- Category: AI
- Official site: https://ponytail.dev/
- Tracked by: What's New (https://whatsnew.fyi/product/ponytail)
- Harvested from: GitHub (DietrichGebert/ponytail)
- Entries below: 10 (newest first)

What's New is an index, not a publisher: every entry below links to the vendor's own release notes, which are the authoritative source. Entries are labelled where they are hand-curated sample data, pre-releases, or drawn from a secondary source such as a developer blog.

## Releases

### v4.8.4 — v4.8.4: lazy in Hermes now

- Date: 2026-06-29
- Version: v4.8.4
- Original notes: https://github.com/DietrichGebert/ponytail/releases/tag/v4.8.4
- Permalink: https://whatsnew.fyi/product/ponytail/releases/v4.8.4

- **added** — Ponytail now runs as a native Hermes Agent plugin with always-on context, bundled skills, and slash commands
- **added** — Ponytail ships as a Devin CLI plugin
- **changed** — The skill now triggers on any coding task, not just keyword prompts, improving recall on coding tasks from 2/6 to 6/6 with precision unchanged
- **fixed** — Benchmarks now strip block comments before counting lines of code
- **fixed** — Benchmark rejects --ollama-url without a host

###### New
- Ponytail now runs as a native **Hermes Agent** plugin (#323) — always-on context, bundled skills, and slash commands.
- Ponytail ships as a **Devin CLI** plugin (#318).
- The skill now triggers on any coding task, not just keyword prompts (#447) — description-driven hosts load it reliably on plain coding work, recall on coding tasks went 2/6 to 6/6 with precision unchanged.

###### Docs
- Sponsors section, with GreenPT as the first sponsor (#321)
- Announcement banner replaces the badge; waitlist teaser added and translated (#316, #314, #312)
- Swift/SwiftUI section in `platform-native.md` (#313)
- Star History chart and Trendshift badges in the READMEs (#294, #293)
- ES and Korean READMEs synced with the Devin CLI addition (#322)

###### Fixes
- benchmarks: strip block comments before counting LOC (#232)
- benchmark: reject `--ollama-url` without a host (#315)

**Full changelog:** https://github.com/DietrichGebert/ponytail/compare/v4.8.3...v4.8.4

### v4.8.3 — v4.8.3: lazy in subagents too

- Date: 2026-06-24
- Version: v4.8.3
- Original notes: https://github.com/DietrichGebert/ponytail/releases/tag/v4.8.3
- Permalink: https://whatsnew.fyi/product/ponytail/releases/v4.8.3

- **added** — The ponytail ruleset now injects into subagents via a SubagentStart hook, ensuring spawned subagents stay lazy like the main thread

###### New
- The ponytail ruleset now injects into **subagents** via a `SubagentStart` hook (#254) — spawned subagents stay lazy, not just the main thread.

###### Docs
- Korean README — `README.ko.md` (#283)
- OpenCode npm install + npm badge across the English and Spanish READMEs; dropped the obsolete command-symlink note (#285)

**Full changelog:** https://github.com/DietrichGebert/ponytail/compare/v4.8.2...v4.8.3

### v4.8.2 — v4.8.2: now on npm

- Date: 2026-06-24
- Version: v4.8.2
- Original notes: https://github.com/DietrichGebert/ponytail/releases/tag/v4.8.2
- Permalink: https://whatsnew.fyi/product/ponytail/releases/v4.8.2

- **added** — Package is now installable from npm as @dietrichgebert/ponytail
- **added** — Pi-extension status bar indicator for the active ponytail mode
- **added** — Swival install instructions
- **added** — PowerShell-safe shared hooks
- **fixed** — Uninstall cleanup for state left outside plugin files
- **fixed** — Benchmark and test fixes

Ponytail is now installable from npm as `@dietrichgebert/ponytail`, published from CI via npm **trusted publishing** (OIDC, with provenance) — no tokens.

###### OpenCode

```json
{ "plugin": ["@dietrichgebert/ponytail"] }
```

###### Also in this release
- pi-extension status bar indicator for the active ponytail mode (#275, #279)
- Swival install instructions (#264)
- PowerShell-safe shared hooks (#265)
- uninstall cleanup for state left outside plugin files (#228)
- benchmark + test fixes (#274, #268)

**Full changelog:** https://github.com/DietrichGebert/ponytail/compare/v4.8.1...v4.8.2

### v4.8.1 — v4.8.1: consistent versioning

- Date: 2026-06-23
- Version: v4.8.1
- Original notes: https://github.com/DietrichGebert/ponytail/releases/tag/v4.8.1
- Permalink: https://whatsnew.fyi/product/ponytail/releases/v4.8.1

- **fixed** — Align all four plugin manifests and both package.json files to 4.8.1
- **added** — Add a CI guard (scripts/check-versions.js) that fails when version files disagree, or when a release tag does not match the manifest version

Patch release. Metadata only, no changes to the ruleset or behavior.

v4.8.0 shipped with the version manifests still reading 4.7.0 (and the package.json files at 0.1.0), so plugins reported 4.7.0 as the latest version even after updating. This release aligns every version-bearing file to 4.8.1 so the version reports correctly across Claude, Codex, Copilot, and Gemini.

##### Fixes
- Align all four plugin manifests and both package.json files to 4.8.1 (#260, #262)
- Add a CI guard (`scripts/check-versions.js`) that fails when version files disagree, or when a release tag does not match the manifest version, so this cannot recur

##### Updating
Update the ponytail plugin in your host (re-run your marketplace or plugin update, or reinstall). It will then report 4.8.1.

### v4.8.0 — v4.8.0: comprehension first, now with an MCP server

- Date: 2026-06-23
- Version: v4.8.0
- Original notes: https://github.com/DietrichGebert/ponytail/releases/tag/v4.8.0
- Permalink: https://whatsnew.fyi/product/ponytail/releases/v4.8.0

- **added** — Add ponytail-mcp, an MCP server that serves the ruleset to any MCP-capable agent
- **added** — Add /ponytail-gain measured-impact scoreboard showing less code, less cost, and more speed from benchmark medians
- **added** — Add Antigravity support via .agents/rules/ponytail.md
- **added** — Add CodeWhale support with native AGENTS.md reader and zero setup
- **added** — Add argument-hint on the ponytail skill
- **security** — Bump @modelcontextprotocol/sdk to ^1.26.0 to address CVE-2026-25536
- **fixed** — Implement comprehension-first guard and reuse rung to climb the ladder only after understanding the problem and reusing what already lives in the repo
- **fixed** — Do not embed shell-unsafe install paths in the statusline setup nudge
- **fixed** — Make Python command in robustness-audit.js portable for Windows
- **fixed** — Do not write output on SessionStart for Copilot
- **fixed** — Register skills dir via config hook so OpenCode discovers ponytail skills
- **fixed** — Avoid Gemini loading Claude hook events
- **fixed** — Make statusline read the flag from CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR, not just ~/.claude
- **fixed** — Guard final writeHookOutput against stdout EPIPE in ponytail-activate
- **fixed** — Strip UTF-8 BOM before parsing settings.json in ponytail-activate
- **fixed** — Resolve test failure on Node.js < 20.11.0
- **fixed** — Only deactivate on a standalone 'stop ponytail' or 'normal mode' command
- **fixed** — Pin all four safety carve-outs in the rule-drift canary

He read the whole thing first, then wrote less.

This release sharpens the core ruleset (comprehension before laziness, reuse before rewriting), ships an MCP server for the rules, adds a measured-impact scoreboard, and lands a security bump. Two more agents join the family.

##### ✨ Features
- **`ponytail-mcp`**: an MCP server that serves the ruleset to any MCP-capable agent (#91)
- **`/ponytail-gain`**: measured-impact scoreboard — less code, less cost, more speed from the benchmark medians (#108)
- **Antigravity support** via `.agents/rules/ponytail.md` (#119)
- **CodeWhale support** — native AGENTS.md reader, zero setup (#124)
- `argument-hint` on the ponytail skill (#85)

##### 🔒 Security
- Bump `@modelcontextprotocol/sdk` to `^1.26.0` (CVE-2026-25536) (#208)

##### 🛠 Fixes
- **Comprehension-first guard + reuse rung** — climb the ladder only after understanding the problem; reuse what already lives in the repo before rewriting it (#245, #217)
- Don't embed shell-unsafe install paths in the statusline setup nudge (#224)
- Portable Python command in `robustness-audit.js` (Windows) (#209)
- Don't write output on SessionStart for Copilot (#168)
- Register skills dir via config hook so OpenCode discovers ponytail skills (#138)
- Avoid Gemini loading Claude hook events (#139)
- Statusline reads the flag from `CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR`, not just `~/.claude` (#154)
- Guard final `writeHookOutput` against stdout EPIPE in `ponytail-activate` (#149)
- Strip UTF-8 BOM before parsing settings.json in `ponytail-activate` (#148)
- Resolve test failure on Node.js < 20.11.0 (#157)
- Only deactivate on a standalone "stop ponytail" / "normal mode" (#162)
- Pin all four safety carve-outs in the rule-drift canary (#114)

##### 📊 Benchmarks
- Agentic LOC + safety benchmark against a fair agentic baseline (#126, #158)
- Completeness judge so LOC wins can't hide under-delivery (#171)
- critic-email task reproducing the critique's own example (#173)

##### 📚 Docs & examples
- Spanish (LATAM) README translation (#110)
- 6 new over-engineering survivors + platform-native guide (#109)
- Agentic benchmark chart and corrected cost claim (42–75%, 30-rep) in the README (#160, #129)

**Full changelog**: https://github.com/DietrichGebert/ponytail/compare/v4.7.0...v4.8.0

### v4.7.0 — v4.7.0: lazy in OpenClaw now

- Date: 2026-06-16
- Version: v4.7.0
- Original notes: https://github.com/DietrichGebert/ponytail/releases/tag/v4.7.0
- Permalink: https://whatsnew.fyi/product/ponytail/releases/v4.7.0

- **added** — Add OpenClaw skill that integrates ponytail as an agent capability accessible via clawhub install ponytail
- **added** — Include review, audit, debt, and help skills as part of the OpenClaw integration
- **changed** — Generate the OpenClaw skill directly from ponytail's single source to prevent drift across platforms

OpenClaw is the fastest-growing open-source agent out there, an always-on assistant that reads your messages and runs your workflows. The lazy senior dev now lives inside it.

`clawhub install ponytail` and he's there: an OpenClaw skill that kicks in on coding tasks and tells the agent to write less. The review, audit, debt, and help skills come along too. He does not care how big the house is. He still deletes more than he adds.

The skill is generated straight from ponytail's single source, so the OpenClaw copy cannot drift from every other platform. One ruleset, now on one more agent.

Tested the boring way: installed OpenClaw, loaded the skill, watched it come up ready and visible to the model. Then he went back to not talking.

### v4.6.0 — v4.6.0: help, reluctantly

- Date: 2026-06-15
- Version: v4.6.0
- Original notes: https://github.com/DietrichGebert/ponytail/releases/tag/v4.6.0
- Permalink: https://whatsnew.fyi/product/ponytail/releases/v4.6.0

- **added** — Add `/ponytail-help` command that lists all available commands, wired up on all skill-capable hosts (Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, Gemini CLI, pi)
- **added** — Add Ollama runner to test ponytail on local models
- **added** — Add parity test to ensure no future command can be advertised without corresponding implementation files
- **fixed** — Fix counter that scored unfenced code as zero
- **fixed** — Fix Unicode character that crashed the runner on Windows

He has never explained a command in his life. You typed `/ponytail-help` and got
nothing, because the file was never actually there, only the promise of it in the
docs. The most senior-dev bug there is: works in the standup, missing from the repo.

Now it ships. `/ponytail-help` is wired up alongside the other commands on every
skill-capable host (Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, Gemini CLI, pi): one command that
lists the rest. A new parity test makes sure no future command can be advertised
without the files to back it. He hates writing documentation. He hates broken
promises more.

**We benchmarked him on a tiny local model and shipped the flop.**

A contributor added an Ollama runner so you can test ponytail on local models. We
ran it on llama3.2 (3B) and the lines-of-code win turned out to be noise: one run
lands 17% under baseline, the next 50% over, the median shrugs. The skill is tuned
for models that actually follow instructions. A 3B model nods along and writes the
boilerplate anyway.

We published that instead of burying it. A benchmark you only show when it flatters
you is an ad. The frontier numbers (80-94% less code on Haiku, Sonnet, Opus) still
hold, and now there's an honest note on where they stop. Full reproduction in
`benchmarks/results/`.

Swept up on the way out: a counter that scored unfenced code as zero, and a Unicode
character that crashed the runner on Windows after the work was already done.

He'd call it a quiet release. Then he'd stop talking.

### v4.5.0 — v4.5.0: lazy in Copilot

- Date: 2026-06-15
- Version: v4.5.0
- Original notes: https://github.com/DietrichGebert/ponytail/releases/tag/v4.5.0
- Permalink: https://whatsnew.fyi/product/ponytail/releases/v4.5.0

- **added** — GitHub Copilot CLI plugin support via Copilot Marketplace
- **added** — CI on every push and PR with npm test script
- **fixed** — Correctness checks now use python3 for macOS/CI compatibility
- **fixed** — Hooks degrade gracefully when node is not on PATH

This release is mostly other people, and that's the point. GitHub Copilot CLI is now a full plugin host, contributed by @maxfelker (a Microsoft engineer) who built it with Copilot, tested it live, then reviewed his own PR in ponytail ultra (the headline finding was "delete a test"). CI, an `npm test` script, and a python3 fix came from @christophermayfield. Plus a fix for the hooks erroring when `node` isn't on PATH (Nix/nvm setups). The tool that does less got more thorough by getting more hands.

- GitHub Copilot CLI plugin: `copilot plugin marketplace add DietrichGebert/ponytail` then `copilot plugin install ponytail@ponytail`.
- CI on every push and PR, plus `npm test`.
- Correctness checks work on macOS/CI now (python3 probe).
- Hooks degrade gracefully when `node` isn't on PATH.

##### What's Changed
* Adding support for Copilot Marketplace plugin by @maxfelker in https://github.com/DietrichGebert/ponytail/pull/47
* docs: bump the agents badge to 13 by @DietrichGebert in https://github.com/DietrichGebert/ponytail/pull/56
* fix: use python3 for correctness checks and add CI by @christophermayfield in https://github.com/DietrichGebert/ponytail/pull/50
* fix: hooks degrade gracefully when node is not on PATH by @DietrichGebert in https://github.com/DietrichGebert/ponytail/pull/57
* docs: note the Codex install also covers the desktop app by @DietrichGebert in https://github.com/DietrichGebert/ponytail/pull/59
* chore: bump version to 4.5.0 by @DietrichGebert in https://github.com/DietrichGebert/ponytail/pull/60

##### New Contributors
* @maxfelker made their first contribution in https://github.com/DietrichGebert/ponytail/pull/47
* @christophermayfield made their first contribution in https://github.com/DietrichGebert/ponytail/pull/50

**Full Changelog**: https://github.com/DietrichGebert/ponytail/compare/v4.4.0...v4.5.0

### v4.4.0 — v4.4.0: field-tested, still lazy

- Date: 2026-06-15
- Version: v4.4.0
- Original notes: https://github.com/DietrichGebert/ponytail/releases/tag/v4.4.0
- Permalink: https://whatsnew.fyi/product/ponytail/releases/v4.4.0

- **changed** — Sharpen rules based on field review feedback: hardware is never the spec ideal (leave the calibration knob), the one-runnable-check rule is now a headline (lazy code without its check is unfinished), and explanation you explicitly asked for isn't debt
- **added** — Add ponytail-debt skill to harvest deferred ponytail: shortcuts into a ledger so later doesn't quietly become never
- **added** — Add a behavior-gate eval so rules can't silently regress
- **added** — Add a dark-background logo
- **changed** — Use the dark logo in the README header on dark themes

**The headline of this release isn't a feature, it's a field test.** A user ran ponytail across a from-scratch rewrite of a real system: nine phases, protocol plus desktop app plus simulator plus Raspberry Pi daemon plus ESP32 firmware. The verdict was "net win, kept it on the whole build," and across all nine phases "it never once trimmed a failsafe, validation, or auth check." It also flagged where the laziness needed a tighter leash. v4.4.0 is the result.

- Sharper rules from that feedback: hardware is never the spec ideal (leave the calibration knob), the one-runnable-check rule is now a headline ("lazy code without its check is unfinished"), and explanation you explicitly asked for isn't debt.
- `/ponytail-debt`: harvests the `ponytail:` shortcuts you've deferred into a ledger, so "later" doesn't quietly become "never."
- A behavior-gate eval so those rules can't silently regress.
- A dark-background logo (community-contributed) and a cleaner README.

##### What's Changed
* feat: refine ruleset from a full-project field review by @DietrichGebert in https://github.com/DietrichGebert/ponytail/pull/39
* feat: add ponytail-debt skill by @DietrichGebert in https://github.com/DietrichGebert/ponytail/pull/40
* docs: commands reference + portability accuracy by @DietrichGebert in https://github.com/DietrichGebert/ponytail/pull/41
* feat: add a dark-background logo by @DietrichGebert in https://github.com/DietrichGebert/ponytail/pull/43
* docs: use the dark logo in the README header on dark themes by @DietrichGebert in https://github.com/DietrichGebert/ponytail/pull/44
* chore: bump version to 4.4.0 by @DietrichGebert in https://github.com/DietrichGebert/ponytail/pull/45
* chore: untrack one-off social images committed by mistake by @DietrichGebert in https://github.com/DietrichGebert/ponytail/pull/46

**Full Changelog**: https://github.com/DietrichGebert/ponytail/compare/v4.3.0...v4.4.0

### v4.3.0 — v4.3.0: more agents, still lazy

- Date: 2026-06-14
- Version: v4.3.0
- Original notes: https://github.com/DietrichGebert/ponytail/releases/tag/v4.3.0
- Permalink: https://whatsnew.fyi/product/ponytail/releases/v4.3.0

- **added** — Add ponytail-audit skill
- **added** — Add Gemini CLI support
- **added** — Add correctness assertion to benchmarks
- **fixed** — Fix Windows hooks failing under PowerShell when cmd.exe %VAR% is not expanded
- **fixed** — Honor CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR in hooks

##### What's Changed
* feat: add ponytail-audit skill by @rygel in https://github.com/DietrichGebert/ponytail/pull/20
* fix: Windows hooks fail under PowerShell (cmd.exe %VAR% not expanded) by @ousamabenyounes in https://github.com/DietrichGebert/ponytail/pull/26
* feat: add Gemini CLI support by @ousamabenyounes in https://github.com/DietrichGebert/ponytail/pull/25
* docs: document GitHub Copilot CLI support by @DietrichGebert in https://github.com/DietrichGebert/ponytail/pull/30
* docs: document Antigravity and VS Code Codex extension support by @DietrichGebert in https://github.com/DietrichGebert/ponytail/pull/36
* feat(benchmarks): add correctness assertion by @zamal-db in https://github.com/DietrichGebert/ponytail/pull/31
* fix: honor CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR in hooks by @DietrichGebert in https://github.com/DietrichGebert/ponytail/pull/37
* chore: bump version to 4.3.0 by @DietrichGebert in https://github.com/DietrichGebert/ponytail/pull/38

##### New Contributors
* @rygel made their first contribution in https://github.com/DietrichGebert/ponytail/pull/20
* @ousamabenyounes made their first contribution in https://github.com/DietrichGebert/ponytail/pull/26
* @zamal-db made their first contribution in https://github.com/DietrichGebert/ponytail/pull/31

**Full Changelog**: https://github.com/DietrichGebert/ponytail/compare/v4.2.0...v4.3.0