Green Agentic AI Coding with Ponytail

How can AI-generated code be made leaner, cheaper, and more sustainable? This hybrid meetup in Karlsruhe showcases Ponytail using real benchmarks.## Less Over-Engineering through AI AgentsAI agents can today take over a large part of the development work – but often produce more code and dependencies than necessary. Instead of using an existing browser function, for example, they install a library, build wrapper components, and add additional stylesheets. On September 22, 2026, Dietrich Gebert will demonstrate at bluehands in Karlsruhe how to systematically avoid this reflex.Gebert is the author and maintainer of Ponytail, an open-source agent skill with a clear prioritization for coding agents. Before new code is produced, the agent checks, among other things:- Does this function even need to exist?- Is there already a suitable solution in the project?- Is the standard library sufficient?- Can the underlying platform take on the task?- What is the smallest working piece of new code?In the presentation, Dietrich goes through concrete before-and-after diffs and explains a benchmark setup where an agent processes twelve real feature tickets in a FastAPI-and-React repository. The measured results: 54% fewer lines of code, 22% fewer tokens, 20% lower costs, and 27% less runtime. The presentation also transparently addresses the limits of these numbers: Joule and CO₂ were not determined, as providers of hosted models do not publish the energy consumption of individual requests.## Practical Setup and Honest AssessmentBesides the benchmarks, it will also address the long-term effect of code that isn't even written: It doesn't need to be built, delivered, executed, or maintained. Participants will receive an installation guide for common agents, a concrete setup for their own coding agent, and a review command that checks current diffs for over-engineering.The meetup is aimed at software developers, AI coding practitioners, and anyone interested in green software, web development, and more efficient development processes. It will take place hybrid; when RSVPing, participants can choose between attending in person and online. The online link is visible to registered individuals.Schedule:…Register for this event