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.
Installs into .claude/skills of the current project.
Are you the author of Ponytail Review?
Add the live security badge to your README. It updates with every re-scan.
[](https://www.skillsdirectory.com/skills/tensology-ponytail-review)
---
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.
---
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
❌ "This EmailValidator class might be more complex than necessary, have you
considered whether all these validation rules are needed at this stage?"
✅ `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.
