handoff

name	handoff
description	Standards for writing HANDOFF.md to transfer context between agents or sessions.

Handoff Document Standards

Guidelines for writing HANDOFF.md documents that enable agent-to-agent context transfer. See reference.md and examples.md for details.

Purpose

• Enable the next agent to continue work by reading only HANDOFF.md
• Preserve context that would otherwise be lost between sessions
• Reduce ramp-up time by clearly documenting what was tried and learned

Core Principles

• Write so the next agent needs zero additional context
• Be specific: include file paths, error messages, and concrete details
• Distinguish clearly between what worked and what failed
• Make next steps actionable and unambiguous

When to Write

• At the end of a work session before context is lost
• When a complex task is interrupted mid-progress
• When explicitly handing off work to another agent
• When the task will span multiple sessions