| name | recall-handoff |
| description | Write a consume-once handoff of the current session's working state into this project's recall store, so the next session picks up where this one left off. Most useful right before /compact or /clear. The next fresh session (compact, clear, or startup) injects the handoff and then deletes it. |
| disable-model-invocation | true |
Recall Handoff
Capture where work stands right now into a HANDOFF.md in this project's recall
store. This is a transient baton, not durable memory: SessionStart injects it into the
next fresh session and immediately deletes it. The end-of-session sweep handles durable
learnings separately, so a handoff is for the in-flight task you are about to carry
across a /compact, a /clear, or a new session.
Locate the handoff file
Run the recall path resolver to get the absolute target path. It derives the project's
store for you, so never re-derive the path by hand:
${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/../../hooks/recall-path.py --handoff
Use the printed path as the write target below. The store directory may not exist yet;
creating it via the Write tool is fine.
Read any existing handoff first
If a HANDOFF.md already exists at that path, read it before writing. The user may
be iterating, doing several rounds of work before compacting. Treat the existing file as
prior context and update it in place (carry forward still-relevant goals and notes,
revise progress, add new dead ends) rather than overwriting it blank. Only drop content
that is genuinely resolved or obsolete.
Compose the handoff
Write the document from the current conversation. Be concrete and specific. Prefer real
file paths, command names, and decisions over vague summaries. The point is that a fresh
agent with no memory of this session can resume immediately.
Use this structure. Omit a section only when it would be empty (keep Open questions
out entirely if there are none):
# Handoff
## Goal
What we're trying to accomplish.
## Current progress
What's been done so far.
## What worked
Approaches that succeeded.
## What didn't work
Dead ends, so they are not repeated.
## Key files
Paths and locations touched, so the next session orients fast.
## Next steps
Concrete, ordered action items.
## Open questions
Decisions still pending. Omit this section if there are none.
Write and confirm
Write the composed document to the resolved path with the Write tool, then report in one
line: the path written, and that the next /compact, /clear, or new session will
inject it and then remove it. Do not run /compact yourself; leave that to the user.
