ponytail-debt

Every deliberate ponytail shortcut is marked with a `shortcut:` comment naming its ceiling and upgrade path (older code may say `ponytail:`). This collects them into one ledger so a deferral can't quietly become permanent. ## Scan Grep the repo for comment markers, skipping `node_modules`, `.git`, and build output: `grep -rnE --exclude-dir=.git --exclude-dir=node_modules --exclude-dir=dist --exclude-dir=build '(#|//|/[*]) ?(shortcut|ponytail):' .` (add other comment prefixes if your stack uses them) If the user names their own marker word (`/ponytail-debt TODO`), grep for that word instead. Each hit is one ledger row. The comment prefix keeps prose that merely mentions the convention out of the ledger. Skip hits that are not a deferral, like a note about a keyboard shortcut. ## Output One row per marker, grouped by file: `<file>:<line>, <what was simplified>. ceiling: <the limit named>. upgrade: <the trigger to revisit>.` The convention is `shortcut: <ceiling>, <upgrade path>`, so pull the ceiling and the trigger straight from the comment. Want an owner per row too? add `git blame -L<line>,<line>`. Flag the rot risk: any marker comment that names no upgrade path or trigger gets a `no-trigger` tag, those are the ones that silently rot. End with `<N> markers, <M> with no trigger.` Nothing found: `No shortcut debt. Clean ledger.` ## Boundaries Reads and reports only, changes nothing. To persist it, ask and it writes the ledger to a file (e.g. `PONYTAIL-DEBT.md`). One-shot. "stop ponytail-debt" or "normal mode" to revert.