dsh-ds-ponytail

Ponytail supplies explicit, minimal-solution coding guidance for DeepSeek Harness. It favors existing code, standard libraries, platform features, and small behavior-preserving changes while respecting each repository's architecture and validation rules.

This installable DSH bundle registers six load-on-request skills. Installing it does not activate Ponytail mode.

Skill	What it does
ponytail	Simplifies a requested coding task at lite, full, or ultra intensity
ponytail-review	Reviews a diff for removable complexity without claiming correctness or release readiness
ponytail-audit	Audits a repository for behavior-preserving simplifications
ponytail-debt	Collects ponytail: shortcut comments into a debt ledger
ponytail-gain	Shows the upstream benchmark scoreboard with its model and workload limitations
ponytail-help	Displays the levels and available skills

The browser module adds a Ponytail page under Settings. The page confirms that the browser module loaded and lists the skills included in the bundle; loading a skill by name verifies host-side availability.

Requirements

Use DeepSeek Harness 0.1.2-alpha.5 or newer. The plugin waits for the Harness skill registry, re-registers after that service is replaced, and removes its registrations when unloaded.

Install

Add the prebuilt npm package to a profile:

dsh plugin --profile demo add dsh-ds-ponytail

A GitHub install runs the package's prepare build. Review the source and pin a commit:

dsh plugin --profile demo add github:Stijnus/dsh-ds-ponytail#<commit-sha>

Inspect and start the composition:

dsh --profile demo --dump-config
dsh --profile demo

Restart a running web profile after installation so it serves the new browser module. Remove the bundle with:

dsh plugin --profile demo remove dsh-ds-ponytail

Use

Ask for a skill by name, such as “use the ponytail skill,” “ponytail review this diff,” or “ponytail debt.” Profiles that mount the Harness skill tool also accept /ponytail, /ponytail-review, /ponytail-audit, /ponytail-debt, /ponytail-gain, and /ponytail-help gestures.

The main ponytail skill applies to the requested coding task. It continues as a conversational mode only when you explicitly request an ongoing mode, and it does not persist between sessions. Helper skills do not enable the main mode.

Development

npm install
npm run build
npm test
npm pack

npm run build produces the module-loader client artifact at lib/client.js. npm test covers the host registration lifecycle, instruction payload, localized browser page, and built client artifact.

Benchmark context

ponytail-gain reports upstream single-shot benchmark medians for Claude Haiku, Sonnet, and Opus. The upstream report says Ponytail produced 80–94% less code, cost 42–75% less, and ran 3–6 times faster in those tasks. It also warns that the bare-model baseline overstates the benefit and that multi-turn agentic work can cost more. These are not DeepSeek or DeepSeek Harness measurements. See the upstream benchmark methodology and results.

Credits

This package adapts DietrichGebert/ponytail, distributed under the MIT License. The Harness port uses the DSH skill registry and client module system instead of the upstream Claude Code, Codex, marketplace, and configuration mechanisms. Both upstream and port copyright notices are retained in LICENSE.