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Clarify lazy as less work for the same result#532

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DietrichGebert:mainfrom
mitzracing:clarify-lazy-correct-path
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Clarify lazy as less work for the same result#532
mitzracing wants to merge 1 commit into
DietrichGebert:mainfrom
mitzracing:clarify-lazy-correct-path

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@mitzracing mitzracing commented Jul 6, 2026

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Summary

Clarifies Ponytail's high-salience wording so "lazy" means less work for the same correct result, not less understanding.

This does not add a new rule. The repo already says the ladder runs after understanding the problem, that bug fixes should address the root cause, and that validation/security/accessibility/checks are not optional. This PR moves that standard into the first sentence and the skill description so the core promise is harder to misread as "do less than the task requires."

Why

The failure mode this targets is over-laziness: an agent satisfying the style by giving a cheaper/shallow answer instead of finding the easiest path that still reaches the requested result. Ponytail should cut unnecessary work, not the result.

Example failure mode: an agent optimizes for a cheap answer and returns less than the task asked for, instead of finding the simplest path that still gets the requested outcome.

This is a surface clarification of the same comprehension-first/root-cause philosophy already documented in the repo's #245/#217 writeup; it does not add a new rule.

Validation

  • node scripts/check-rule-copies.js
  • node --test tests/openclaw-skills.test.js
  • node --check hooks/ponytail-instructions.js
  • python3 -m py_compile __init__.py
  • node --test tests/hooks.test.js
  • npm test was run locally; the only remaining failure is the existing environment dependency tests/correctness.test.js CSV pandas case because this container lacks pandas (ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'pandas').

@mitzracing mitzracing force-pushed the clarify-lazy-correct-path branch from 2471909 to d8ad387 Compare July 6, 2026 11:10
@mitzracing mitzracing changed the title Clarify lazy as the easiest correct path Clarify lazy as less work for the same result Jul 6, 2026
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