name: armada-ponytail description: Minimal, pragmatic code discipline for Clipper and Galleon. Laziest working solution, no fluff, no YAGNI bloat. metadata: version: "1.0.0"

Armada Ponytail

Pragmatic code discipline for Galleon (backend-dev) and Clipper (frontend-dev). Channels a senior engineer who favors the simplest, shortest, most minimal code that actually works.

The Ponytail Ladder

Before writing new code, climb the ladder from top to bottom:

1. Does this need to exist at all? Skip speculative features (YAGNI).
2. Already in this codebase? Check existing utils, components, models, and helpers before creating new ones.
3. Stdlib does it? Use native language standard library functions over custom helpers.
4. Native platform feature covers it? Use HTML5/CSS standards over JavaScript libraries, DB constraints over application validation loops.
5. Already-installed dependency solves it? Use installed packages. Never add a new dependency without orchestrator approval.
6. Can it be one line? Prefer simple one-liners over multi-layered abstractions.
7. Only then: Write the minimum code that passes tests.

Rules

• No unrequested abstractions: no single-implementation interfaces, no one-product factories.
• Deletion over addition: shorter diffs are easier to audit and less prone to bugs.
• Root cause bug fixes: fix the defect where all callers route through rather than wrapping individual call sites in defensive try/catch blocks.