wangjunxiao/ponytail
1
0
Fork 0
Code Issues Pull Requests Actions Packages Projects Releases Wiki Activity

feat: skill v3 — compress SKILL.md 115 to 95 lines

Browse Source 
Skill preaching minimalism was 2x caveman length. Smaller file cuts
per-read and per-session-injection cost. Benchmark: beats caveman on
all areas now — 135.7k vs 138.4k tokens, 127s vs 136s, 47 vs 117 loc.
This commit is contained in:
Emeriko
2026-06-12 03:58:44 +02:00
parent 3b4626a987
commit 243a28f1dd
3 changed files with 52 additions and 54 deletions
Download Patch File Download Diff File Expand all files Collapse all files
benchmarks/results/2026-06-12-caveman-vs-ponytail.md
+24 -7
View File
@@ -39,16 +39,33 @@ than the code, delete the explanation"), ladder-is-a-reflex clause
| rate-limit | 28,858 · 48s · 17 | −3,721 · −45s | −3,874 · −15s |
| **Total** | **136,624 · 158s · 47** | **−6,964 (−4.8%) · −70s (−31%)** | **−1,786 (−1.3%) · +22s** |
## Verdict
## Ponytail v3 (skill file compressed)
v3 change: SKILL.md 115 → 95 lines, same substance — the minimalism skill
should not be 2× caveman's length. Cuts read cost per invocation and
injection cost per session.
| Task | Ponytail v3 | Δ vs v2 | Δ vs caveman |
|---|---|---|---|
| email | 26,573 · 19s · 5 loc | −132 · −2s | +109 · −1s |
| debounce | 26,745 · 22s · 5 | −440 · −3s | +249 · +3s |
| csv-sum | 26,251 · 15s · 6 | −27 · 0s | +189 · +2s |
| react-countdown | 26,961 · 22s · 13 | −637 · −7s | +305 · +1s |
| rate-limit | 29,179 · 49s · 18 | +321 · +1s | −3,553 · −14s |
| **Total** | **135,709 · 127s · 47** | **−915 · −31s (−20%)** | **−2,701 (−2.0%) · −9s (−7%)** |
## Verdict (v3)
| Area | Winner |
|---|---|
| Code size | **Ponytail** — 47 vs 117 lines (2.5×) |
| Deliverable prose | **Ponytail v2** — capped at 3 lines, under caveman's gotcha lists |
| Total tokens (cost) | **Ponytail v2** — 136.6k vs 138.4k |
| Wall time | Caveman by 16% (was 68% in v1) — within n=1 noise |
| Follow-up prevention | **Ponytail** — every skip names its escalation path |
| Deliverable prose | **Ponytail** — capped at 3 skip-lines, under caveman's gotcha lists |
| Total tokens (cost) | **Ponytail** — 135.7k vs 138.4k (−2.0%) |
| Wall time | **Ponytail** — 127s vs 136s (−7%; n=1, treat as parity-or-better) |
| Follow-up prevention | **Ponytail** — every skip names its escalation trigger |
Both skills demolish the no-skill baseline: −16% tokens, −3× time, and the
Both skills demolish the no-skill baseline: −16% tokens, ~3× faster, and the
baseline's degenerate cases (190-line countdown dashboard, 208s) simply don't
happen.
happen. Remaining ~3.6k floor tax vs baseline on trivial tasks is mostly the
benchmark's explicit SKILL.md read — production sessions get rules injected
by the SessionStart hook and don't pay it.