Install Ponytail + i-have-adhd for Claude Code and Codex

Outcome: You will install Ponytail and i-have-adhd in Claude Code or Codex, turn both on, and test them on a real coding task in about 10 minutes.

What these tools actually do

Ponytail and i-have-adhd solve different problems.

Ponytail changes what your coding agent builds. It pushes the agent to reuse code that already exists, prefer the standard library or native platform features, avoid speculative abstractions, and write the minimum code that safely solves the task.

i-have-adhd changes how your coding agent speaks to you. It puts the next action first, numbers multi-step work, limits tangents, shows visible progress, and ends with one concrete next step.

Used together, the agent should produce less unnecessary code and make the remaining work easier to follow.

They work with coding agents such as Claude Code and Codex. They are not ChatGPT web-browser plugins, and they do not change a normal ChatGPT conversation on chatgpt.com.

Before you install

You need:

• Claude Code or Codex already installed.
• A terminal on Mac, Windows or Linux.
• Git access to GitHub.
• Node.js available on your PATH for Ponytail's automatic Claude Code and Codex hooks.

Check the basics:

git --version
node --version

Then check the agent you use:

claude --version

or:

codex --version

If node --version fails, install the current Node.js LTS release from nodejs.org before continuing. Ponytail's skills can still load without Node, but its automatic lifecycle hooks will not run correctly.

Choose your installation path

Use the Claude Code section if you normally start your agent with claude or use the Code tab in Claude Code Desktop.

Use the Codex section if you normally start your agent with codex or use the Codex desktop app.

Do not install both paths unless you actively use both products.

Install both in Claude Code

Step 1: Install Ponytail

Start Claude Code:

claude

Paste this into Claude Code and press Enter:

/plugin marketplace add DietrichGebert/ponytail

Wait for it to finish. Then send this as a second message:

/plugin install ponytail@ponytail

The two commands must be separate prompts. Do not paste them as one message.

The same commands work in the Code tab of Claude Code Desktop. You can also use the + button beside the prompt box, choose Plugins, then add or manage the marketplace through the interface.

Step 2: Install i-have-adhd

Open a normal terminal, outside the Claude Code prompt, and paste:

claude plugin marketplace add ayghri/i-have-adhd
claude plugin install i-have-adhd@i-have-adhd

Verify that Claude Code can see the installed plugins:

claude plugin list

You should see both ponytail and i-have-adhd.

Step 3: Start a clean session and activate both

Restart Claude Code, then type:

/ponytail full

Then type:

/i-have-adhd

Ponytail defaults to full, so /ponytail without an argument also works. I recommend full for normal work. It is strict enough to stop most over-engineering without treating every useful feature as waste.

The ADHD skill is on-demand by default. It stays active for the current session until you say:

stop adhd mode

Turn Ponytail off with:

/ponytail off

Install both in Codex

Step 1: Paste the installation commands

Run these commands in a normal terminal:

codex plugin marketplace add DietrichGebert/ponytail
codex plugin add ponytail@ponytail
codex plugin marketplace add ayghri/i-have-adhd --ref main
codex plugin add i-have-adhd@i-have-adhd

Verify the installation:

codex plugin list

Step 2: Trust Ponytail's hooks

Start Codex:

codex

Open:

/hooks

Review Ponytail's two lifecycle hooks and trust them if their source is the Ponytail plugin you just installed. The hooks inject the active Ponytail rules at the right points in a task.

Start a new Codex task after trusting the hooks. If you use the Codex desktop app, restart the app after installation.

Step 3: Activate the skills

Invoke Ponytail in Codex with:

@ponytail full

Invoke the ADHD output style with:

$i-have-adhd

Codex builds can present skills through the skill picker as well as typed references. If either typed form is not recognised, open the skill picker and select ponytail or i-have-adhd by name. Do not reinstall until you have checked codex plugin list and restarted Codex.

Run one useful test

Use a small project with version control and no uncommitted work you care about. Ask the agent to make a bounded change where over-engineering is possible.

Paste this prompt:

Add a date field to the existing form in this project.

Use Ponytail full mode. Reuse what the project already has and prefer the native platform before adding a dependency. Do not remove validation, error handling, security checks or accessibility.

Use the i-have-adhd output style. Put the next action first, number the work, show which files changed, and end with one concrete verification step.

Before accepting the result, check four things:

1. The agent inspected the existing form before editing it.
2. It considered a native date input before adding a date-picker package.
3. It kept validation and accessibility intact.
4. Its response gave you one clear verification step.

Ponytail is not supposed to make code cryptic or remove safeguards. Its own rule is minimum necessary code, not fewest possible characters.

The Ponytail commands worth knowing

Use the slash forms in Claude Code. In Codex, select the matching skill or use its @ reference, such as @ponytail-review.

Start with full. Use ultra only when you deliberately want the agent to question the requested scope. Do not use an over-engineering review as a replacement for normal correctness, security and performance review.

Make the ADHD style automatic only if you want it

For Claude Code, make the ADHD skill load at the start of every session with:

touch ~/.claude/.i-have-adhd-always

Return to on-demand mode with:

rm ~/.claude/.i-have-adhd-always

For Codex, the upstream project recommends copying its output-style rules into ~/.codex/AGENTS.md if you want them in every task. Read the exact current block in the project's INSTALL.md before doing that.

My recommendation: keep it on demand for the first week. If you consistently prefer the output, make it automatic later.

Updates

Claude Code

Update the marketplaces:

claude plugin marketplace update ponytail
claude plugin marketplace update i-have-adhd

For Ponytail, you can also open /plugin, select its marketplace and enable automatic updates. Run /reload-plugins if Claude Code asks after an update.

Codex

Refresh both marketplace snapshots:

codex plugin marketplace upgrade ponytail
codex plugin marketplace upgrade i-have-adhd

For i-have-adhd, its current upstream update instructions then remove and re-add the plugin:

codex plugin remove i-have-adhd
codex plugin add i-have-adhd@i-have-adhd

Uninstall

Claude Code

claude plugin uninstall i-have-adhd
claude plugin marketplace remove i-have-adhd

Remove Ponytail from inside Claude Code with:

/plugin remove ponytail

Codex

codex plugin remove ponytail
codex plugin marketplace remove ponytail
codex plugin remove i-have-adhd
codex plugin marketplace remove i-have-adhd

Ponytail stores a small mode/config file outside its plugin directory and can add a Claude status-line setting if you accepted that option. Its repository includes a separate cleanup script for those leftovers. Read Ponytail's current Uninstall section before using it, because the cleanup script must run before the plugin files are removed.

Troubleshooting

The plugin command is not recognised

Update Claude Code or Codex, restart it, then retry. Plugin support and invocation syntax are changing quickly, so use the repository's current README if your installed build differs from this guide.

Ponytail installed but does not activate automatically

Run node --version. If Node is installed through nvm or Nix, confirm it is available to non-interactive shells, not only your normal terminal startup. In Codex, also open /hooks and confirm the Ponytail hooks are trusted.

The skill does not appear

Run the relevant plugin list command, restart the app, and start a new task. Existing sessions may not reload newly installed skills.

The output is too aggressive

Change Ponytail to lite or turn it off. Say stop adhd mode if the numbered, action-first response format does not suit the current task.

What a good combined result looks like

After setup, a good response should be short because the implementation is straightforward, not because the agent skipped understanding or safety.

For a date field, that could mean the agent reads the existing form, uses the browser's native date input, preserves the project's validation pattern, runs the smallest relevant check, and tells you exactly what to verify next.

That is the useful combination: Ponytail reduces unnecessary implementation, and i-have-adhd reduces unnecessary explanation.