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inspired-by-ponytail

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Independent zero-dependency CLI and lifecycle hook that brings YAGNI-first minimalism to AI coding agents.

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<h1 align="center">🧔 Greybeard</h1>

<p align="center"><em>He's seen your framework come and go. He writes four lines and walks away.</em></p>

---

You know the type. Grey beard, no patience for ceremony, been shipping since
before your build tool existed. You hand him fifty lines; he reads them, deletes
three files, and replaces the whole thing with four lines that actually work.

**Greybeard puts that instinct inside your AI coding agent.**

> An independent, from-scratch reimplementation inspired by
> [`DietrichGebert/ponytail`](https://github.com/DietrichGebert/ponytail).
> Same core idea — a YAGNI-ladder minimalism mode for AI agents — with its own
> code, its own persona, a real CLI, a working lifecycle hook, and a test suite.
> Not a fork. Shares no code with the original.

## Before / after

You ask for a date picker. An unconstrained agent installs a library, writes a
wrapper component, adds a stylesheet, and starts a thread about timezones.

With Greybeard:
```html

<input type="date">
```
More survivors in [examples/](examples/before-after.md).

## How it works

Before writing any code, the agent stops at the **first rung that holds**:

```
1. Does this need to exist?   → no: skip it (YAGNI)
2. Stdlib does it?            → use it
3. Native platform feature?   → use it
4. Installed dependency?      → use it
5. One line?                  → one line
6. Only then: the minimum that works
```

Lazy, not negligent. Trust-boundary validation, data-loss handling, security,
and accessibility are **never** on the chopping block. Every intentional
shortcut is marked with a `greybeard:` comment that names its upgrade path — so
a shortcut with a known ceiling is honest, never silent.

## Install (Claude Code)

```
/plugin marketplace add thanvish21/inspired-by-ponytail
/plugin install greybeard@greybeard
```
Then open `/hooks`, review and trust the `UserPromptSubmit` hook, and start a
new thread. The hook re-injects Greybeard's instructions every turn so the mode
never drifts.

## Use

```
/greybeard            # switch to full (default)
/greybeard lite       # trim obvious bloat, keep reasonable structure
/greybeard ultra      # maximum austerity
/greybeard off        # or just say "stop greybeard"
/greybeard-review     # audit a diff/file: what didn't need to exist?
```

You can also switch inline — just type `greybeard ultra` (or `stop greybeard`)
in any message and the hook picks it up.

## Intensity levels

| Level | Behavior |
|---|---|
| **lite** | Trim obvious bloat; keep reasonable structure. Good for shared codebases. |
| **full** | The full ladder. Default. Aggressive about YAGNI and stdlib-first. |
| **ultra** | Maximum austerity. Questions whether the task should be done at all. |

## CLI

Greybeard is also a standalone, zero-dependency CLI (used by the hook, handy on
its own):

```bash
npx greybeard status                 # current mode
npx greybeard set ultra              # switch (persisted to ~/.greybeard/mode)
npx greybeard instructions           # print the injected instruction block
npx greybeard ladder                 # print the YAGNI ladder
```

## What's in the box

```
.claude-plugin/   plugin.json + marketplace.json
skills/greybeard/ SKILL.md — the persona, ladder, rules, levels
commands/         /greybeard and /greybeard-review slash commands
hooks/            UserPromptSubmit hook that injects + persists mode
src/              config.js · instructions.js · cli.js  (no dependencies)
tests/            node --test suite (config, instructions, CLI)
examples/         before/after survivors
benchmarks/       method + task set to reproduce the "less code" claim
```

## Additions over the original concept

- **Standalone CLI** (`greybeard`) usable outside any agent — inspect, switch,
  and print instructions from a shell or script.
- **Inline mode switching** detected straight from the prompt text by the hook,
  no slash command required.
- **Corruption-safe state**: an unreadable/garbage mode file silently falls back
  to the default instead of breaking the agent turn.
- **Zero runtime dependencies** and tests on Node's built-in runner — the tool
  practices the minimalism it preaches.

## Testing

```bash
node --test        # 16 tests, no framework, no install
```
CI runs the suite across Node 18/20/22 and builds the Docker image.

## License

MIT. Concept inspiration:
[`DietrichGebert/ponytail`](https://github.com/DietrichGebert/ponytail) — an
independent reimplementation, no shared code.

inspired-by-ponytail

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