Use when onboarding new agents to the team, providing role briefings, conducting project handoffs, and ensuring agents are ready to contribute effectively. Trigger with new agent or new project setup.
Use when onboarding new agents to the team, providing role briefings, conducting project handoffs, and ensuring agents are ready to contribute effectively. Trigger with new agent or new project setup.
user-invocable
false
license
Apache-2.0
compatibility
Requires AI Maestro messaging API access, project documentation access, and role definition documents. Requires AI Maestro installed.
metadata
{"author":"Emasoft","version":"1.0.0"}
context
fork
agent
ecos-main
workflow-instruction
Step 4
procedure
proc-create-team
Emasoft Chief of Staff Onboarding Skill
Overview
Agent onboarding is the process of integrating new AI agents into a coordinated team. The Chief of Staff ensures that each new agent understands their role, the project context, key procedures, and how to communicate with teammates. Proper onboarding reduces confusion, prevents errors, and accelerates time-to-productivity.
Prerequisites
Before using this skill, ensure:
Agent to be onboarded is created and running
Project documentation is available
Team registry is accessible
Instructions
Identify what needs onboarding (agent or project)
Gather required context and documentation
Send onboarding materials to target
Verify understanding and readiness
Output
Onboarding Type
Output
New agent
Agent understands role and context
New project
Project registered, team assigned
Role change
Agent updated with new responsibilities
What Is Agent Onboarding?
Agent onboarding is a structured process to prepare a new agent for effective participation in a multi-agent team. Unlike human onboarding which may take days or weeks, agent onboarding happens in minutes but must be thorough and precise.
Key characteristics:
Structured: Follows a defined checklist
Role-specific: Tailored to the agent's assigned role
Example 1: Initiating Onboarding for New Developer
Use the agent-messaging skill to send an onboarding initiation message:
Recipient: new-developer-agent
Subject: Welcome - Onboarding Session Starting
Priority: high
Content: type request, welcoming the agent to the team, introducing yourself as Chief of Staff, and requesting confirmation that the agent is ready to begin onboarding
Verify: confirm message delivery and await agent readiness confirmation.
Example 2: Role Briefing Message
# Role Briefing: Developer## Your Assigned Role
You are assigned as a **Developer** on the Authentication Module.
## Responsibilities1. Implement features from the backlog
2. Write unit tests for all new code
3. Update documentation for your changes
4. Participate in code reviews when requested
## Reporting Structure-**Report to:** orchestrator-master for task assignments
-**Coordinate with:** auth-code-reviewer for reviews
-**Escalate to:** chief-of-staff for blockers
## Expectations- Acknowledge task assignments promptly
- Provide regular status updates during active work
- Request clarification if requirements are unclear
- Follow project coding conventions
Please confirm you understand these responsibilities.
Example 3: Project Handoff Summary
# Project Handoff: Authentication Module## Project Overview
We are building a secure authentication module for the main application.
Current sprint: Sprint 5 (2 weeks remaining)
## Current State- Login endpoint: COMPLETE
- Logout endpoint: IN PROGRESS (60%)
- Password reset: NOT STARTED
- Session management: BLOCKED (waiting on logout)
## Key Files- src/auth/login.py - Login implementation
- src/auth/logout.py - Logout implementation (your focus)
- tests/auth/ - Test directory
## Conventions- Use async/await for all I/O operations
- All endpoints return JSON
- Error responses use standard error format
- Tests required for all new functions
## Active Context
The logout endpoint is partially implemented. Current work is at line 145.
Next step: Implement session invalidation.
Operational Procedures
Step-by-step runbooks for executing each onboarding operation. Use these when performing the actual procedures described above.
Detailed step-by-step runbook for delivering a structured role briefing to an agent, including role definition retrieval and understanding confirmation.
When to Use: After onboarding checklist, role changes, role responsibility updates
Detailed step-by-step runbook for transferring project knowledge to an agent, including state gathering, document composition, and comprehension verification.
When to Use: Onboarding to project, transferring work between agents, bringing backup agents up to speed
Solution: Provide more specific examples, break down responsibilities into smaller steps, have agent repeat back understanding, consider if role is appropriate match.
Issue: Project handoff is incomplete
Symptoms: Agent lacks critical context, makes errors based on missing information.
Solution: Review handoff checklist, identify gaps, send supplementary information, verify understanding of each critical point.
Handoff Validation Checklist
Before sending any handoff document to a new agent, validate using this checklist:
### Handoff Validation Checklist
Before sending handoff:
- [ ] All required fields present (from/to/type/UUID/task)
- [ ] UUID is unique (check existing handoffs: `ls $CLAUDE_PROJECT_DIR/thoughts/shared/handoffs/`)
- [ ] Target agent exists and is alive (use the `ai-maestro-agents-management` skill to list agents and verify the target is online)
- [ ] All referenced files exist (`test -f <path> && echo "EXISTS" || echo "MISSING"`)
- [ ] No placeholder [TBD] markers (`grep -r "\[TBD\]" handoff.md`)
- [ ] Document is valid markdown (no broken links, proper formatting)
- [ ] Acceptance criteria clearly defined
- [ ] Current state accurately reflects reality
- [ ] Contact information for questions provided
Validation command:
# Validate the plugin (including handoff documents) using the CPV plugin validator
uv run --with pyyaml python scripts/validate_plugin.py . --verbose
Required fields for all handoffs:
Field
Description
Example
from
Sending agent name
ecos-chief-of-staff
to
Target agent name
new-developer-agent
type
Handoff type
project-handoff, role-briefing, emergency-handoff
UUID
Unique handoff identifier
HO-20250204-auth-001
task
Task or role being handed off
Authentication Module Development
Key Takeaways
Onboarding is mandatory - Never assign work before onboarding is complete
Verification is essential - Confirm understanding at each step
Role briefing must be specific - Generic descriptions cause confusion
Project handoff includes state - Not just structure but current progress
Document completion - Record that onboarding happened and what was covered
Validate before sending - Always run handoff validation checklist
