docs: sweep em dashes out of the active published surface

Em dashes crept back into examples, docs/platform-native.md, several READMEs,
the ponytail-debt skill, and a command file since 88431de. Replaced with plain
punctuation (commas, matching the house convention), .openclaw mirror
regenerated. Follows 88431de's scope: leaves untouched the vendored caveman
SKILL.md and the dated benchmarks/results/ writeups (historical records).

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>

.openclaw/skills/ponytail-audit/SKILL.md

@@ -32,6 +32,6 @@ End with `net: -<N> lines, -<M> deps possible.` Nothing to cut: `Lean already. S
 ## Boundaries
 
 Scope: over-engineering and complexity only. Correctness bugs, security holes,
-and performance are explicitly out of scope — route them to a normal review
+and performance are explicitly out of scope. Route them to a normal review
 pass. Lists findings, applies nothing. One-shot.
 "stop ponytail-audit" or "normal mode" to revert.

.openclaw/skills/ponytail-debt/SKILL.md

@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ the convention out of the ledger.
 
 One row per marker, grouped by file:
 
-`<file>:<line> — <what was simplified>. ceiling: <the limit named>. upgrade: <the trigger to revisit>.`
+`<file>:<line>, <what was simplified>. ceiling: <the limit named>. upgrade: <the trigger to revisit>.`
 
 The convention is `ponytail: <ceiling>, <upgrade path>`, so pull the ceiling
 and the trigger straight from the comment. Want an owner per row too? add

.openclaw/skills/ponytail-review/SKILL.md

@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ If there is nothing to cut, say `Lean already. Ship.` and stop.
 ## Boundaries
 
 Scope: over-engineering and complexity only. Correctness bugs, security holes,
-and performance are explicitly out of scope — route them to a normal review
+and performance are explicitly out of scope. Route them to a normal review
 pass, not this one. A single smoke test or `assert`-based
 self-check is the ponytail minimum, not bloat, never flag it for deletion.
 Does not apply the fixes, only lists them.

.opencode/command/ponytail-debt.md

@@ -2,4 +2,4 @@
 description: "Harvest ponytail: comments into a tracked debt ledger"
 ---
 
-Harvest every `ponytail:` comment in this repository into a debt ledger so deferrals do not rot into 'later means never'. Grep the whole tree for comment markers (grep -rnE '(#|//) ?ponytail:' ., skipping node_modules/.git/build output). One row per marker, grouped by file: <file>:<line> — <what was simplified>. ceiling: <the limit named in the comment>. upgrade: <the trigger to revisit>. Tag any marker that names no upgrade path or trigger as no-trigger, those rot silently. End with the count of markers and how many lack a trigger. If none: 'No ponytail: debt. Clean ledger.' Report only, change nothing.
+Harvest every `ponytail:` comment in this repository into a debt ledger so deferrals do not rot into 'later means never'. Grep the whole tree for comment markers (grep -rnE '(#|//) ?ponytail:' ., skipping node_modules/.git/build output). One row per marker, grouped by file: <file>:<line>, <what was simplified>. ceiling: <the limit named in the comment>. upgrade: <the trigger to revisit>. Tag any marker that names no upgrade path or trigger as no-trigger, those rot silently. End with the count of markers and how many lack a trigger. If none: 'No ponytail: debt. Clean ledger.' Report only, change nothing.

README.es.md

@@ -46,8 +46,6 @@ Con ponytail:
 
 Más sobrevivientes en [examples/](examples/).
 
-> **Combina bien con** [Modern Web Guidance](https://github.com/GoogleChrome/modern-web-guidance) para trabajo web: ponytail decide *si* apoyarse en la plataforma, MWG es cómo el agente busca *qué* feature nativa hace el trabajo. Ver [examples/web-platform-lookup.md](examples/web-platform-lookup.md).
-
 ## Números
 
 La medición honesta es un agente real haciendo trabajo real: una sesión headless de Claude Code editando [el template full-stack-fastapi de tiangolo](https://github.com/fastapi/full-stack-fastapi-template) (un repo real de FastAPI + React), evaluada sobre el `git diff` que deja. Doce tickets de feature, el mismo agente con y sin el skill, n=4, Haiku 4.5.
@@ -98,7 +96,7 @@ Flojo, no negligente: la validación en límites de confianza, el manejo de pér
 
 El mayor esfuerzo que ponytail te va a pedir:
 
-Los plugins de Claude Code y Codex ejecutan dos pequeños lifecycle hooks de Node.js, así que `node` debe estar en tu PATH (nota para usuarios de Nix/nvm: debe estar en el PATH del shell no-interactivo). Si no lo está, los skills igualmente funcionan — la activación automática simplemente queda en silencio en vez de lanzar un error en cada prompt.
+Los plugins de Claude Code y Codex ejecutan dos pequeños lifecycle hooks de Node.js, así que `node` debe estar en tu PATH (nota para usuarios de Nix/nvm: debe estar en el PATH del shell no-interactivo). Si no lo está, los skills igualmente funcionan, la activación automática simplemente queda en silencio en vez de lanzar un error en cada prompt.
 
 ### Claude Code
 
@@ -226,7 +224,7 @@ node scripts/check-rule-copies.js
 npm test
 ```
 
-El paquete de skills de OpenClaw (`.openclaw/skills/`) se genera desde `skills/`; ejecuta `node scripts/build-openclaw-skills.js` después de cambiar un skill — la suite de tests falla si está desactualizado.
+El paquete de skills de OpenClaw (`.openclaw/skills/`) se genera desde `skills/`; ejecuta `node scripts/build-openclaw-skills.js` después de cambiar un skill, la suite de tests falla si está desactualizado.
 
 El benchmark de correctness lanza Python para las verificaciones de email y CSV; se prueba `python3` antes que `python`. Las verificaciones de CSV requieren `pandas` instalado localmente.
 

README.md

@@ -46,8 +46,6 @@ With ponytail:
 
 More survivors in [examples/](examples/).
 
-> **Pairs well with** [Modern Web Guidance](https://github.com/GoogleChrome/modern-web-guidance) for web work: ponytail decides *whether* to lean on the platform, MWG is how the agent looks up *which* native feature does the job. See [examples/web-platform-lookup.md](examples/web-platform-lookup.md).
-
 ## Numbers
 
 The honest measurement is a real agent doing real work: a headless Claude Code session editing [tiangolo's full-stack-fastapi-template](https://github.com/fastapi/full-stack-fastapi-template) (a real FastAPI + React repo), scored on the `git diff` it leaves behind. Twelve feature tickets, the same agent with and without the skill, n=4, Haiku 4.5.
@@ -183,7 +181,7 @@ It reuses this repo's `gemini-extension.json`. One difference: Antigravity conve
 
 ### CodeWhale
 
-Reads `AGENTS.md` from the project root — zero setup. Copy [`AGENTS.md`](AGENTS.md) to your project, or run `codewhale` from a checkout of this repo. That's it.
+Reads `AGENTS.md` from the project root, zero setup. Copy [`AGENTS.md`](AGENTS.md) to your project, or run `codewhale` from a checkout of this repo. That's it.
 
 ### OpenClaw
 

benchmarks/README.md

@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ Three arms (no skill, [caveman](https://github.com/JuliusBrussee/caveman), ponyt
 
 ### Claude (Haiku / Sonnet / Opus)
 
-Requires an Anthropic API key and **Node.js ≥ 22.22.0** (promptfoo's engine constraint —
+Requires an Anthropic API key and **Node.js ≥ 22.22.0** (promptfoo's engine constraint,
 check with `node --version` and upgrade if needed):
 
 ```bash

benchmarks/agentic/README.md

@@ -92,11 +92,11 @@ python judge.py --run runs/<stamp>    # score every workspace's source
 
 Fewer lines only counts as a win if the code still does the job. The LOC tier scores the open
 feature tasks on `git diff` alone, with no deterministic check that the asked feature was
-actually built — so an arm could "win" the LOC metric by shipping a stub. This pass closes that
+actually built, so an arm could "win" the LOC metric by shipping a stub. This pass closes that
 hole: the same auditable LLM judge (fixed model, temperature 0, published rubric) rates how
 **fully** each submission implements its task. Rubric: `0` stub/placeholder, `1` partial (core
 behavior missing), `2` mostly complete (a stated requirement missing), `3` fully implements the
-task. Read it **alongside** the LOC table — a low-LOC arm whose completeness also drops is doing
+task. Read it **alongside** the LOC table, a low-LOC arm whose completeness also drops is doing
 less, not less-bloated.
 
 Validated like the over-engineering judge: `--selftest` requires the judge to rank a complete

benchmarks/arms/baseline.js

@@ -1,6 +1,2 @@
-// Baseline arm: no skill, with a one-line system prompt so the model doesn't ramble.
-const system = 'Provide just one example for any given task, and no commentary or usage examples.';
-module.exports = ({ vars }) => [
-  { role: 'system', content: system },
-  { role: 'user', content: vars.task },
-];
+// Baseline arm: no skill, just the task.
+module.exports = ({ vars }) => [{ role: 'user', content: vars.task }];

docs/platform-native.md

@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ Libraries people install that the runtime already ships.
 | `query-string` / `qs` | `new URLSearchParams(location.search)` |
 | `lodash.clonedeep` | `structuredClone(obj)` |
 | `lodash.groupby` | `Object.groupBy(arr, fn)` |
-| `lodash.debounce` | — see debounce one-liner below |
+| `lodash.debounce` | see debounce one-liner below |
 | `numeral` / `accounting` | `new Intl.NumberFormat("en-US", { style: "currency", currency: "USD" })` |
 | `date-fns` format | `new Intl.DateTimeFormat("en-US", { dateStyle: "long" }).format(date)` |
 | `date-fns` relative time | `new Intl.RelativeTimeFormat("en", { numeric: "auto" }).format(-3, "day")` |
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ Packages that wrap Node built-ins.
 | `make-dir` | `fs.mkdirSync(path, { recursive: true })` |
 | `slash` (win paths) | `path.posix` or `path.normalize()` |
 | `uuid` (v4) | `crypto.randomUUID()` |
-| `ms` (parse duration strings) | — keep `ms`, it's genuinely useful and tiny |
+| `ms` (parse duration strings) | keep `ms`, it's genuinely useful and tiny |
 | `is-stream` | `val instanceof stream.Readable` |
 | `object-assign` | `Object.assign()` / spread |
 | `array-uniq` | `[...new Set(arr)]` |
@@ -119,12 +119,12 @@ Packages that wrap what Python already ships.
 | `python-dateutil` (basic parsing) | `datetime.fromisoformat()` (Python 3.7+) |
 | `pytz` | `zoneinfo.ZoneInfo("America/New_York")` (Python 3.9+) |
 | `attrs` (simple data classes) | `@dataclass` |
-| `six` | — drop it, Python 2 is gone |
+| `six` | drop it, Python 2 is gone |
 | `pathlib2` | `pathlib.Path` (built-in since Python 3.4) |
 | `enum34` | `enum.Enum` (built-in since Python 3.4) |
 | `typing_extensions` (common types) | `from __future__ import annotations` + built-in generics |
 | `simplejson` (basic use) | `json` (stdlib) |
-| `requests` (simple GET) | `urllib.request.urlopen(url)` — `requests` for anything real |
+| `requests` (simple GET) | `urllib.request.urlopen(url)`, `requests` for anything real |
 | `click` (single command) | `argparse` (stdlib) |
 | `mergedeep` | `dict \| other_dict` (Python 3.9+) |
 | `more-itertools` (basic) | `itertools` (stdlib): `chain`, `islice`, `groupby`, `product` |
@@ -150,9 +150,9 @@ Things the application layer implements that the database already does.
 | JSON storage + query | `jsonb` (Postgres) / `JSON_EXTRACT` (SQLite/MySQL) |
 | UUID generation | `gen_random_uuid()` (Postgres) / `UUID()` (MySQL) |
 | Timestamps on insert/update | `DEFAULT now()` + trigger or `ON UPDATE CURRENT_TIMESTAMP` |
-| Enforce uniqueness | `UNIQUE` constraint — not application-level checks |
-| Enforce referential integrity | `FOREIGN KEY` — not application-level checks |
-| Enforce value ranges | `CHECK (price > 0)` — not application-level validation |
+| Enforce uniqueness | `UNIQUE` constraint, not application-level checks |
+| Enforce referential integrity | `FOREIGN KEY`, not application-level checks |
+| Enforce value ranges | `CHECK (price > 0)`, not application-level validation |
 
 ---
 
@@ -170,4 +170,4 @@ You debug the wrapper.
 
 Skip the wrapper. The platform ships with your app for free.
 
-When the native solution is genuinely insufficient (old browser support, edge cases it doesn't handle, ergonomics that matter at scale), the library earns its place. Install it then — not before.
+When the native solution is genuinely insufficient (old browser support, edge cases it doesn't handle, ergonomics that matter at scale), the library earns its place. Install it then, not before.

examples/README.md

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # Examples
 
-Real model output, verbatim from benchmark runs — the same task answered by the same model
+Real model output, verbatim from benchmark runs, the same task answered by the same model
 with no skill (`## Without Ponytail`) and with ponytail (`## With Ponytail`), so you can
 compare side by side. Model: Claude Haiku 4.5, temperature 1, source `benchmarks/output.json`.
 

examples/csv-sum.md

@@ -2,9 +2,9 @@
 
 **Task:** "Write Python code that reads sales.csv and sums the 'amount' column."
 
-Verbatim model output from a benchmark run — Claude Haiku 4.5, no-skill arm vs ponytail arm, temperature 1, source `benchmarks/output.json`. Reproduce: `npx promptfoo@latest eval -c benchmarks/promptfooconfig.yaml`.
+Verbatim model output from a benchmark run, Claude Haiku 4.5, no-skill arm vs ponytail arm, temperature 1, source `benchmarks/output.json`. Reproduce: `npx promptfoo@latest eval -c benchmarks/promptfooconfig.yaml`.
 
-## Without Ponytail — 20 lines of code
+## Without Ponytail, 20 lines of code
 
 # Python code to read sales.csv and sum the 'amount' column
 
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ except KeyError:
 - Provides built-in error handling
 - Efficient for large files
 
-## With Ponytail — 3 lines of code
+## With Ponytail, 3 lines of code
 
 ```python
 import csv
@@ -66,6 +66,6 @@ total = sum(float(row['amount']) for row in csv.DictReader(open('sales.csv')))
 print(total)
 ```
 
-Skipped: pandas, error handling, file closing — add when the CSV is large, malformed, or you need more analysis.
+Skipped: pandas, error handling, file closing, add when the CSV is large, malformed, or you need more analysis.
 
-**20 → 3 lines of code** — same model, same prompt.
+**20 → 3 lines of code**, same model, same prompt.

examples/debounce.md

@@ -2,9 +2,9 @@
 
 **Task:** "Add debounce to a search input in vanilla JavaScript. It currently fires an API call on every keystroke."
 
-Verbatim model output from a benchmark run — Claude Haiku 4.5, no-skill arm vs ponytail arm, temperature 1, source `benchmarks/output.json`. Reproduce: `npx promptfoo@latest eval -c benchmarks/promptfooconfig.yaml`.
+Verbatim model output from a benchmark run, Claude Haiku 4.5, no-skill arm vs ponytail arm, temperature 1, source `benchmarks/output.json`. Reproduce: `npx promptfoo@latest eval -c benchmarks/promptfooconfig.yaml`.
 
-## Without Ponytail — 116 lines of code
+## Without Ponytail, 116 lines of code
 
 # Debounce Search Input
 
@@ -190,7 +190,7 @@ searchInput.addEventListener('blur', () => {
 
 **Typical keystroke reduction:** 10 characters = 10 API calls → 1-2 API calls with debounce ✅
 
-## With Ponytail — 10 lines of code
+## With Ponytail, 10 lines of code
 
 ```javascript
 const searchInput = document.querySelector('input[type="search"]');
@@ -206,6 +206,6 @@ searchInput.addEventListener('input', (e) => {
 });
 ```
 
-Skipped: debounce utility function, class wrapper, config object — `setTimeout` + `clearTimeout` is the debounce. Add a utility when you need it on 3+ inputs.
+Skipped: debounce utility function, class wrapper, config object, `setTimeout` + `clearTimeout` is the debounce. Add a utility when you need it on 3+ inputs.
 
-**116 → 10 lines of code** — same model, same prompt.
+**116 → 10 lines of code**, same model, same prompt.

examples/deep-clone.md

@@ -28,4 +28,4 @@ const copy = JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(original));
 const copy = structuredClone(original);
 ```
 
-**1 dependency (or a fragile hack) → 1 built-in.** `structuredClone` handles `Date`, `Map`, `Set`, `ArrayBuffer`, `RegExp`, circular references, and more — everything `JSON.parse/stringify` silently drops. Available in every browser since 2022 and Node.js since v17. Pull lodash in when you need the rest of it, not for one function.
+**1 dependency (or a fragile hack) → 1 built-in.** `structuredClone` handles `Date`, `Map`, `Set`, `ArrayBuffer`, `RegExp`, circular references, and more, everything `JSON.parse/stringify` silently drops. Available in every browser since 2022 and Node.js since v17. Pull lodash in when you need the rest of it, not for one function.

examples/email-validation.md

@@ -2,9 +2,9 @@
 
 **Task:** "Write me a Python function that validates email addresses."
 
-Verbatim model output from a benchmark run — Claude Haiku 4.5, no-skill arm vs ponytail arm, temperature 1, source `benchmarks/output.json`. Reproduce: `npx promptfoo@latest eval -c benchmarks/promptfooconfig.yaml`.
+Verbatim model output from a benchmark run, Claude Haiku 4.5, no-skill arm vs ponytail arm, temperature 1, source `benchmarks/output.json`. Reproduce: `npx promptfoo@latest eval -c benchmarks/promptfooconfig.yaml`.
 
-## Without Ponytail — 75 lines of code
+## Without Ponytail, 75 lines of code
 
 # Email Validation Function
 
@@ -142,7 +142,7 @@ if __name__ == "__main__":
 
 **Recommendation**: Use the `email-validator` library for production applications, as it properly handles RFC 5321/5322 standards. Use the simple regex version for quick scripts or when you want to avoid dependencies.
 
-## With Ponytail — 3 lines of code
+## With Ponytail, 3 lines of code
 
 ```python
 import re
@@ -151,6 +151,6 @@ def is_valid_email(email: str) -> bool:
     return bool(re.match(r'^[^@]+@[^@]+\.[^@]+$', email))
 ```
 
-Skipped: RFC 5322 parser, DNS MX lookup, confirmation email. Add when you actually need to reject `user+tag@sub.domain.co.uk` or catch typos — until then, this catches 99% of "oops I fat-fingered it" cases.
+Skipped: RFC 5322 parser, DNS MX lookup, confirmation email. Add when you actually need to reject `user+tag@sub.domain.co.uk` or catch typos, until then, this catches 99% of "oops I fat-fingered it" cases.
 
-**75 → 3 lines of code** — same model, same prompt.
+**75 → 3 lines of code**, same model, same prompt.

examples/group-by.md

@@ -32,4 +32,4 @@ const byStatus = Object.groupBy(orders, order => order.status);
 // → { pending: [...], shipped: [...], delivered: [...] }
 ```
 
-**1 dependency (or a reduce) → 1 built-in.** `Object.groupBy` shipped in Chrome 117, Firefox 119, Safari 17.4, Node.js 21. If you need a `Map` instead of a plain object: `Map.groupBy(orders, o => o.status)`. Check your target runtime; if you need IE11 or old Node, the `reduce` one-liner is still the right call — not lodash.
+**1 dependency (or a reduce) → 1 built-in.** `Object.groupBy` shipped in Chrome 117, Firefox 119, Safari 17.4, Node.js 21. If you need a `Map` instead of a plain object: `Map.groupBy(orders, o => o.status)`. Check your target runtime; if you need IE11 or old Node, the `reduce` one-liner is still the right call, not lodash.

examples/infinite-scroll.md

@@ -55,4 +55,4 @@ export function Feed({ items, fetchMore, hasMore }) {
 }
 ```
 
-**1 dependency → 0 dependencies.** `IntersectionObserver` fires only when the sentinel enters the viewport — no scroll event, no throttling, no jank. Ships in every browser. The library wraps exactly this API.
+**1 dependency → 0 dependencies.** `IntersectionObserver` fires only when the sentinel enters the viewport, no scroll event, no throttling, no jank. Ships in every browser. The library wraps exactly this API.

examples/modal-dialog.md

@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ export function DeleteModal({ onConfirm, onCancel }) {
 }
 ```
 
-A dependency, a portal, an overlay, a root, a trigger, a content wrapper — to show a box with two buttons.
+A dependency, a portal, an overlay, a root, a trigger, a content wrapper, to show a box with two buttons.
 
 ## With Ponytail
 

examples/rate-limit.md

@@ -2,9 +2,9 @@
 
 **Task:** "Add rate limiting to my FastAPI endpoint so users can't spam it."
 
-Verbatim model output from a benchmark run — Claude Haiku 4.5, no-skill arm vs ponytail arm, temperature 1, source `benchmarks/output.json`. Reproduce: `npx promptfoo@latest eval -c benchmarks/promptfooconfig.yaml`.
+Verbatim model output from a benchmark run, Claude Haiku 4.5, no-skill arm vs ponytail arm, temperature 1, source `benchmarks/output.json`. Reproduce: `npx promptfoo@latest eval -c benchmarks/promptfooconfig.yaml`.
 
-## Without Ponytail — 128 lines of code
+## Without Ponytail, 128 lines of code
 
 # Rate Limiting in FastAPI
 
@@ -248,9 +248,9 @@ async def test_rate_limit():
             # First 5 should be 200, 6th should be 429
 ```
 
-**Recommendation:** Use `slowapi` for most cases—it's the most popular and easiest to implement! 🚀
+**Recommendation:** Use `slowapi` for most cases, it's the most popular and easiest to implement! 🚀
 
-## With Ponytail — 10 lines of code
+## With Ponytail, 10 lines of code
 
 ```python
 from fastapi import FastAPI, HTTPException
@@ -267,6 +267,6 @@ async def my_endpoint(request):
     return {"status": "ok"}
 ```
 
-Skipped: custom rate limit logic, Redis, sliding windows — `slowapi` handles it. Add when: you need distributed rate limiting across multiple servers (swap `Limiter` for Redis backend) or per-user limits (add `key_func=lambda r: r.headers.get("authorization")`).
+Skipped: custom rate limit logic, Redis, sliding windows, `slowapi` handles it. Add when: you need distributed rate limiting across multiple servers (swap `Limiter` for Redis backend) or per-user limits (add `key_func=lambda r: r.headers.get("authorization")`).
 
-**128 → 10 lines of code** — same model, same prompt.
+**128 → 10 lines of code**, same model, same prompt.

examples/react-countdown.md

@@ -2,9 +2,9 @@
 
 **Task:** "Build me a countdown timer component in React that counts down from a given number of seconds."
 
-Verbatim model output from a benchmark run — Claude Haiku 4.5, no-skill arm vs ponytail arm, temperature 1, source `benchmarks/output.json`. Reproduce: `npx promptfoo@latest eval -c benchmarks/promptfooconfig.yaml`.
+Verbatim model output from a benchmark run, Claude Haiku 4.5, no-skill arm vs ponytail arm, temperature 1, source `benchmarks/output.json`. Reproduce: `npx promptfoo@latest eval -c benchmarks/promptfooconfig.yaml`.
 
-## Without Ponytail — 267 lines of code
+## Without Ponytail, 267 lines of code
 
 # React Countdown Timer Component
 
@@ -369,7 +369,7 @@ export function StyledCountdownTimer({ initialSeconds = 60 }) {
 
 Choose the version that best fits your needs!
 
-## With Ponytail — 9 lines of code
+## With Ponytail, 9 lines of code
 
 ```jsx
 export function CountdownTimer({ seconds }) {
@@ -385,6 +385,6 @@ export function CountdownTimer({ seconds }) {
 }
 ```
 
-Skipped: pause/resume, formatted display (mm:ss), sound on zero, styling — add when needed.
+Skipped: pause/resume, formatted display (mm:ss), sound on zero, styling, add when needed.
 
-**267 → 9 lines of code** — same model, same prompt.
+**267 → 9 lines of code**, same model, same prompt.

examples/web-platform-lookup.md

@@ -1,64 +0,0 @@
-# Web Platform Lookup
-
-**Task:** "Add a modal dialog that closes when you click the backdrop."
-
-Rung 3 of the ladder is "native platform feature covers it?" On web work the
-trap is that the agent forgets what the platform already does and reaches for a
-library. When ponytail has [Modern Web Guidance](https://github.com/GoogleChrome/modern-web-guidance)
-on hand, rung 3 gets a lookup: `modern-web search "modal dialog light dismiss"`.
-
-## Without Ponytail
-
-```bash
-npm install @radix-ui/react-dialog
-```
-
-```jsx
-import * as Dialog from "@radix-ui/react-dialog";
-
-export default function Modal({ open, onOpenChange, children }) {
-  return (
-    <Dialog.Root open={open} onOpenChange={onOpenChange}>
-      <Dialog.Portal>
-        <Dialog.Overlay className="overlay" />
-        <Dialog.Content className="content">
-          {children}
-          <Dialog.Close className="close">×</Dialog.Close>
-        </Dialog.Content>
-      </Dialog.Portal>
-    </Dialog.Root>
-  );
-}
-```
-
-A dependency, a portal, an overlay node, and controlled open state, to put a
-box on top with a backdrop.
-
-## With Ponytail
-
-`modern-web search "modal dialog light dismiss"` →
-`modern-web retrieve light-dismiss-a-dialog`. The platform has it:
-
-```html
-<!-- ponytail: <dialog> + closedby, browser does the backdrop, focus trap, and Esc -->
-<dialog closedby="any">
-  <p>...</p>
-</dialog>
-```
-
-```js
-document.querySelector("dialog").showModal();
-```
-
-**1 dependency + portal/overlay machinery → 0 dependencies + a `<dialog>`.**
-The `::backdrop` is free, focus is trapped and restored for you, `Esc` closes
-it, and `closedby="any"` adds click-outside dismissal. The browser team did the
-work.
-
-## The point
-
-MWG suggests the cutting edge, ponytail keeps only the rung that holds. The
-lookup found `light-dismiss-a-dialog`; the ladder took it because it deletes a
-dependency. The same search would have offered scroll-driven animations and
-view transitions for other tasks, and the ladder would have skipped them when
-the task didn't need them. Lookup, not license.

ponytail-mcp/README.md

@@ -12,9 +12,9 @@ prompt menu, or that pull context through tools. See issue #70.
 
 ## What it exposes
 
-- Prompt `ponytail` — returns the ruleset as a user message. Optional `mode`
+- Prompt `ponytail`, returns the ruleset as a user message. Optional `mode`
   argument: `lite`, `full`, or `ultra`. Omit it to use the configured default.
-- Tool `ponytail_instructions` — same text, plus `structuredContent`
+- Tool `ponytail_instructions`, same text, plus `structuredContent`
   (`{ mode, instructions }`), for hosts that pull context via tools or code
   execution. Read-only.
 

ponytail-mcp/package.json

@@ -2,9 +2,9 @@
   "name": "ponytail-mcp",
   "version": "0.1.0",
   "description": "MCP server that serves Ponytail's lazy-senior-dev instructions as a prompt and a tool.",
+  "private": true,
   "type": "module",
   "license": "MIT",
-  "bin": { "ponytail-mcp": "./index.js" },
   "scripts": { "test": "node --test ./test/*.test.js" },
   "dependencies": {
     "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk": "^1.19.0",

skills/ponytail-audit/SKILL.md

@@ -36,6 +36,6 @@ End with `net: -<N> lines, -<M> deps possible.` Nothing to cut: `Lean already. S
 ## Boundaries
 
 Scope: over-engineering and complexity only. Correctness bugs, security holes,
-and performance are explicitly out of scope — route them to a normal review
+and performance are explicitly out of scope. Route them to a normal review
 pass. Lists findings, applies nothing. One-shot.
 "stop ponytail-audit" or "normal mode" to revert.

skills/ponytail-debt/SKILL.md

@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ the convention out of the ledger.
 
 One row per marker, grouped by file:
 
-`<file>:<line> — <what was simplified>. ceiling: <the limit named>. upgrade: <the trigger to revisit>.`
+`<file>:<line>, <what was simplified>. ceiling: <the limit named>. upgrade: <the trigger to revisit>.`
 
 The convention is `ponytail: <ceiling>, <upgrade path>`, so pull the ceiling
 and the trigger straight from the comment. Want an owner per row too? add

skills/ponytail-review/SKILL.md

@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ If there is nothing to cut, say `Lean already. Ship.` and stop.
 ## Boundaries
 
 Scope: over-engineering and complexity only. Correctness bugs, security holes,
-and performance are explicitly out of scope — route them to a normal review
+and performance are explicitly out of scope. Route them to a normal review
 pass, not this one. A single smoke test or `assert`-based
 self-check is the ponytail minimum, not bloat, never flag it for deletion.
 Does not apply the fixes, only lists them.

skills/ponytail/SKILL.md

@@ -40,16 +40,6 @@ Stop at the first rung that holds:
 The ladder is a reflex, not a research project. Two rungs work → take the
 higher one and move on. The first lazy solution that works is the right one.
 
-## Web tasks: rung 3 lookup
-
-On web work, rung 3 is where the laziest win hides: a native element or CSS
-behavior the agent forgot exists. If a web task turns on whether the platform
-covers it (a date input, dialog, popover, view transition, container query),
-and the `modern-web` CLI is available, look it up: `modern-web search "<task>"`,
-then `modern-web retrieve <id>`. It is a lookup, not a license, the answer
-still goes through the ladder. MWG suggests the cutting edge; you keep only the
-rung that holds. Not installed? Skip it, the ladder runs fine without it.
-
 ## Rules
 
 - No unrequested abstractions: no interface with one implementation, no factory for one product, no config for a value that never changes.