| name | ceratops-thread-side-task-handoff |
| description | Create a minimal copy-paste prompt for spinning a newly discovered side task into another thread. Use when Codex should ignore most of the original task and capture only the side task's origin, conclusion, current objective, self-contained context, and next step. |
Ceratops Thread Side-Task Handoff
Goal
Produce one minimal copy-paste prompt for starting a side task in a new thread.
Context
Inputs To Capture
- The original task in one line, if it matters.
- What was discovered or concluded that created the side task.
- The side task's current objective.
- What stays in the current thread, if that matters.
- The exact repo names, PRs, tags, releases, automations, or external entities needed to identify the side task.
- The current evidence, conclusions, constraints, and next-step-critical details summarized in the prompt itself.
- Any active constraints or instructions that materially affect the side task.
Infer missing inputs from the current thread and local state before asking.
Required Prompt Content
- What we were trying to do, in one short line if relevant
- What we came to eventually or discovered that created the side task
- What the objective is now
- What stays in the current thread, if relevant
- Self-contained evidence and context, kept minimal
- Active constraints or instructions that materially affect the work
- The first next step or question for the new thread
Constraints
Skill-Specific Rules
- Treat the original task as background. Include it in one short line only when needed.
- Optimize for the side task only. Ignore most of the original task unless it directly constrains the new thread.
- Produce a prompt, not a bundle and not instructions to use a follow-up handoff skill.
- Prefer the discovered conclusion and current objective over chronology.
- Reuse fresh state already established in the current thread by default.
- Refresh only facts whose staleness would change or misdirect the first step in the new thread.
- Do not include file paths or source-of-truth reference lists; summarize the relevant file contents, evidence, and conclusions inside the prompt itself.
- Mention repo names, PR numbers, automation names, external URLs, or other non-file identifiers only when they are needed to identify the side task.
- Include what stays in the current thread only when it matters for scope control.
- Put active instructions or process constraints under constraints, summarized in prompt text.
- If the user says
include the following questions, including the questions, or equivalent wording, carry those questions into the prompt as next-thread asks instead of answering them here.
- Do not ask for credentials unless verifying the handoff requires protected state that cannot be inferred locally.
Boundaries
- Use this skill only when the user wants to spin off a newly discovered sub-issue into a different thread.
Workflow
1. Isolate the side task
- Separate the side task from the original task.
- Keep only the original-task context needed to explain why the side task exists.
2. Refresh only first-step-critical state
- Apply the first-step refresh rules from Skill-Specific Rules before drafting the prompt.
3. Emit a paste-ready prompt
- Make the current objective and first next step explicit.
- Write the prompt as direct instruction to the new thread, not as commentary about a handoff artifact.
Done When
Completion Gate
- Verify the prompt includes the required content and enough self-contained context to start correctly without opening referenced files.
- Verify the prompt excludes irrelevant branches of the original task unless they materially constrain the side task.
- Verify the prompt does not list file paths or source-of-truth reference sections, and summarizes any needed file-derived evidence directly.
- Verify the prompt does not pretend a fresh re-check happened when it did not.
Output Contract
Emit one copy-paste prompt for a new thread and nothing extra.
Example Invocation
Use $ceratops-thread-side-task-handoff to create a copy-paste prompt for spinning this side issue into a new thread and keep the main task out unless it directly matters.
