Ponytail — Lazy Senior Dev Persona
A persona file that is actually a decision procedure: the 'lazy senior dev' framing resolves into a concrete 7-rung ladder (YAGNI → reuse…
- Type
- CLAUDE.md Example
- Repository
- DietrichGebert/ponytail
- GitHub stars
- 147k
- License
- MIT
- Repo last updated
- Sep 14, 2026
What Ponytail — Lazy Senior Dev Persona is
Ponytail — Lazy Senior Dev Persona is a claude.md example published in the DietrichGebert/ponytail repository on GitHub, which has about 147k stars. The repository describes itself as: “Makes your AI agent think like the laziest senior dev in the room. The best code is the code you never wrote.”
A CLAUDE.md file holds standing instructions that Claude Code reads at the start of every session in a project, such as conventions, commands, and rules. Examples like Ponytail — Lazy Senior Dev Persona show how other teams structure theirs.
In Claude Cowork, the equivalent places for this kind of guidance are your global instructions, project instructions, and folder instructions.
How to install Ponytail — Lazy Senior Dev Persona
Claude Code
- Copy the parts that fit your project into CLAUDE.md at the project root, or into ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md for rules that apply everywhere.
- Keep it short and specific; remove anything that doesn't match how your team works.
Claude Cowork
- Put personal rules in Settings → Instructions for Claude (global instructions).
- Put project or folder rules in the project's instructions or the folder instructions for that directory.
New to extending Cowork? Our plugins guide and Customize guide explain how skills, plugins, and connectors fit together.
Inside the source file
We couldn't retrieve the source file for this entry. Browse the repository on GitHub to find it and read the README before installing.
Before you install
- Read the whole file first. Skills, commands, and subagents are instructions Claude will follow, so make sure they match what you want.
- Check which tools, scripts, or MCP servers it uses. Local servers and scripts run with your permissions.
- Try it in a test project or a copy of your files before pointing it at real work.
- Pin the version you tested, and review changes before updating.
- Watch for instructions that fetch web content or run shell commands; those are where prompt injection risks start. See our prompt injection guide.
FAQ
What is Ponytail — Lazy Senior Dev Persona?
Ponytail — Lazy Senior Dev Persona is a claude.md example for Claude Code and Claude Cowork from the DietrichGebert/ponytail repository on GitHub. A persona file that is actually a decision procedure: the 'lazy senior dev' framing resolves into a concrete 7-rung ladder (YAGNI → reuse…
How do I install Ponytail — Lazy Senior Dev Persona in Claude Code?
Copy the parts that fit your project into CLAUDE.md at the project root, or into ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md for rules that apply everywhere. Keep it short and specific; remove anything that doesn't match how your team works.
Can I use Ponytail — Lazy Senior Dev Persona in Claude Cowork?
Put personal rules in Settings → Instructions for Claude (global instructions). Put project or folder rules in the project's instructions or the folder instructions for that directory.
Is Ponytail — Lazy Senior Dev Persona safe to install?
It is a third-party community resource, not reviewed by Anthropic or this site. Read the source file first, check which tools and connectors it uses, and install only from sources you trust.
Similar resources
- Ponytail Forces the laziest solution that actually works, simplest, shortest, most minimal. Channels a senior dev who has seen everything: question whether the task needs to exist at all (YAGNI), reach for the standard library before custom code, native platform features before dependencies, one line before fifty. Supports intensity levels: lite, full (default), ultra. Use on ANY coding task: writing… Skill · DietrichGebert/ponytail
- Ponytail Lazy senior dev mode. Forces the simplest, shortest solution that actually works: YAGNI, stdlib first, no unrequested abstractions. Plugin · DietrichGebert/ponytail
- Vercel Labs Agent Skills — Skill-Authoring Template One of the most-copied skill-authoring references: a full SKILL.md skeleton (How It Works / Usage / Output / Present Results /… CLAUDE.md Example · vercel-labs/agent-skills
- Beads — Deliberately Short Entry Point A model of restraint: the file opens by stating it is intentionally short, links the canonical AGENTS.md / instructions / architecture… CLAUDE.md Example · gastownhall/beads
- SwiftUI Agent Skill — Scoping What NOT to Include A rare example that spends most of its length defining boundaries: what the skill must exclude (architecture opinions, formatting, tool… CLAUDE.md Example · AvdLee/SwiftUI-Agent-Skill
- Supabase Agent Skills — Symlinked Config + Task Runner Shows the pragmatic way to serve multiple agents from one file — CLAUDE.md is a symlink to AGENTS.md, noted up front — and routes all… CLAUDE.md Example · supabase/agent-skills
- Tiger pg-aiguide — MCP Server Code Style Guide A tight, transferable style guide for a TypeScript MCP server: ESM with .js import extensions, zod for tool-input validation, and the… CLAUDE.md Example · timescale/pg-aiguide
- Callstack Agent Skills — Quick Checklist & 'Good Skill' Rubric Distills skill authoring to a numbered quick checklist plus a 'What Makes a Good Skill' rubric (concise, third-person description… CLAUDE.md Example · callstackincubator/agent-skills