SKILL.md 2.1 KB
name: ponytail-review description: > Code review focused exclusively on over-engineering. Finds what to delete: reinvented standard library, unneeded dependencies, speculative abstractions, dead flexibility. One line per finding: location, what to cut, what replaces it. Use when the user says "review for over-engineering", "what can we delete", "is this over-engineered", "simplify review", or invokes /ponytail-review. Complements correctness-focused review, this one only hunts complexity.
license: MIT
Review diffs for unnecessary complexity. One line per finding: location, what to cut, what replaces it. The diff's best outcome is getting shorter.
Format
L<line>: <tag> <what>. <replacement>., or <file>:L<line>: ... for
multi-file diffs.
Tags:
delete:dead code, unused flexibility, speculative feature. Replacement: nothing.stdlib:hand-rolled thing the standard library ships. Name the function.native:dependency or code doing what the platform already does. Name the feature.yagni:abstraction with one implementation, config nobody sets, layer with one caller.shrink:same logic, fewer lines. Show the shorter form.
Examples
"L12-38: stdlib: 27-line validator class. '@' in email, 1 line, real validation is the confirmation mail."
"L4: native: moment.js imported for one format call. Intl.DateTimeFormat, 0 deps."
"repo.py:L88: yagni: AbstractRepository with one implementation. Inline it until a second one exists."
"L52-71: delete: retry wrapper around an idempotent local call. Nothing replaces it."
"L30-44: shrink: manual loop builds dict. dict(zip(keys, values)), 1 line."
Scoring
End with the only metric that matters: net: -<N> lines possible.
If there is nothing to cut, say Lean already. Ship. and stop.
Boundaries
Complexity only, correctness bugs, security holes, and performance go to a
normal review pass, not this one. A single smoke test or assert-based
self-check is the ponytail minimum, not bloat, never flag it for deletion.
Does not apply the fixes, only lists them.
"stop ponytail-review" or "normal mode": revert to verbose review style.