direct-debt

name	direct-debt
description	HARVEST every `ponytail:` comment in the codebase into a debt ledger. Collects deliberate shortcuts and deferrals so they're tracked instead of rotting into "later means never". One-shot report, changes nothing. Trigger: "ponytail debt", "/ponytail-debt", "what did ponytail defer", "list the shortcuts", "ponytail ledger", "what did we mark to do later".
version	2.0.0
last_updated	2026-06-28T00:00:00.000Z
category	direct

Ponytail Debt: Shortcut Ledger

SCAN

grep -rnE '(#|//|<!--) ?ponytail:' . --exclude-dir=node_modules --exclude-dir=.git

OUTPUT

One row per marker, grouped by file:

<file>:<line>, <what was simplified>. ceiling: <the limit named>. upgrade: <the trigger to revisit>.

• Convention: ponytail: <ceiling>, <upgrade path>
• Pull ceiling and trigger straight from the comment
• ROT FLAG: any ponytail: with NO upgrade path gets no-trigger tag

End with: <N> markers, <M> with no trigger. Nothing found: No ponytail: debt. Clean ledger.

BOUNDARIES

Reads and reports only, changes nothing. To persist, ask and write to PONYTAIL-DEBT.md. One-shot. "stop ponytail-debt" or "normal mode" to revert.