Introduction

The extension mechanism of DSH emphasizes “everything is a plugin.” When developing agents in the DSH Desktop version, if the model frequently hand-codes components, adds new dependencies, and generates a large amount of implementation code, the token consumption for writing code will be relatively high.

dsh-ponytail is a DSH plugin designed to tune the AI into a “lazy but efficient” senior engineer: prioritizing the reuse of native capabilities, standard libraries, and existing code to reduce token consumption for writing code.

What is this

The core function of dsh-ponytail is to inject “minimal code” rules before every model inference, encouraging the model to favor reusing native capabilities, standard libraries, and existing code.

Its license is MIT; inspired by DietrichGebert/ponytail (MIT). The repository path is HB123X/dsh-ponytail.

The plugin is positioned to save tokens (less coding), not to contradict user requirements.

Core Features

Global Switch in Settings Page

A new “Ponytail” page has been added to DSH settings to toggle the entire plugin. When turned off, the input box no longer displays the intensity selector, and no rules are injected.

Intensity Switching in the Input Box

When enabled, a ponytail dropdown box appears on the composer toolbar and to the left of the model selector, allowing real-time intensity switching.

Four Intensity Levels

Level Behavior
Off Off, no rules injected
Lite Tends to stdlib/native, output is concise
Full Default level, enables seven-level forced steps
Ultra Minimalist: minimum tokens, minimum code, zero new dependencies

Immediate Effect and Persistence

The next message is generated according to the new level immediately after switching.

The switch and intensity level remember the last selection; they are not lost upon restarting DSH or reopening a session. The state is stored in:

~/.dsh/dsh-ponytail.json

Installation and Activation

Requirements

  • DSH Desktop (Electron packaged version, configured with a desktop profile).
  • The Node runtime is provided by DSH; the pnpm used in the installation steps is also provided by DSH.
  • The installation script is written for Windows/PowerShell; macOS/Linux users need to replace backslashes in paths and commands with the corresponding forms, but the core steps remain the same.
  • The dsh command may not be exposed to PATH by default; DSH Desktop comes with the dsh CLI, which can be invoked using the full path or a wrapper script.

Install from GitHub:

dsh plugin --profile desktop add github:HB123X/dsh-ponytail

After this command finishes installing, restart DSH for it to take effect.

Install from local source code:

dsh plugin --profile desktop add link:/path/to/dsh-ponytail

Install from npm:

dsh plugin --profile desktop add dsh-ponytail

Manual Installation

When the dsh command is unavailable, you can install it using the following steps:

  1. Clone the repository:
git clone https://github.com/HB123X/dsh-ponytail.git

  1. Copy the repository to vendor/dsh-ponytail in the profile.

  2. In the profile’s package.json, add dsh-ponytail to dependencies, and add it to the dsh.profile.bundles list.

  3. Run the following in the profile directory:

pnpm install

  1. Verify that dsh-ponytail in dependencies and dsh.profile.bundles has not been downgraded; pnpm install sometimes overwrites package.json.

  2. Restart DSH.

Verify Activation

After restarting, you should see the following:

  • A “Ponytail” page appears in DSH settings.
  • A ponytail dropdown appears in the input box and to the left of the model selector.
  • dsh-ponytail appears in the plugin list in the sidebar settings with the status active.

Uninstall

Uninstall using the dsh command:

dsh plugin --profile desktop remove dsh-ponytail

If you need to clear the switch and intensity level memory, you can delete the state file:

~/.dsh/dsh-ponytail.json

Typical Usage

  1. Install the plugin and restart DSH.

  2. Turn on the “Ponytail” switch in DSH settings.

  3. Select the ponytail intensity level in the composer toolbar or to the left of the model selector.

  4. Send the next message and observe if the generation follows the selected intensity level.

  5. To clear the switch and intensity memory, delete:

~/.dsh/dsh-ponytail.json

Use Cases and Notes

Suitable for DSH Desktop and desktop profile, aiming to reduce code generation token consumption.

The plugin loads with DSH and runs with the current dsh process permissions; check the source code and MIT license before installing.

This plugin is not intended to strip away the following capabilities: trust boundary validation, error handling to prevent data loss, security, accessibility, or any explicit requirements.

Conclusion

The value of dsh-ponytail lies in applying the constraints of “write less, reuse, save tokens” to DSH’s pre-inference rules, and providing a global switch in the settings page, intensity switching in the input box, and state persistence.

Repository URL:

https://github.com/HB123X/dsh-ponytail