handoff-protocol

name	handoff-protocol
description	Standard persistence and handoff protocol for inter-agent communication
tags	["reference","protocol"]

.omg/ Directory Convention

All inter-agent data flows through .omg/ with defined subdirectories:

Directory	Purpose	Producers	Consumers
.omg/plans/	Work plans with acceptance criteria	planner, plan skill	autopilot, ralph, team, verifier
.omg/research/	Analysis output, specs, findings	analyst, architect, explore, deep-interview, tracer	planner, executor, autopilot
.omg/reviews/	Review verdicts, critique feedback	critic, code-reviewer, security-reviewer, verifier	planner (revision), executor (fixes)
.omg/qa-logs/	Iteration state for cyclical workflows	ultraqa, autopilot (Phase 3), ralph	Same skills (next iteration)

store_memory Keys

Key	Value	Set by	Read by
omg:active-plan	{ path, title, steps, created }	planner	autopilot, ralph, team
omg:active-spec	{ path, title, created }	deep-interview, analyst	planner, autopilot
omg:last-review	{ path, verdict, reviewer, created }	critic, code-reviewer, verifier	planner, executor

Handoff Contract (for producing agents)

When delegating to another agent via task, always:

1. Persist output to the appropriate .omg/ subdirectory
2. Include in the task prompt: the file path to your output, not the full content
3. For CRITICAL/HIGH findings: extract actionable items as a numbered list in the prompt
4. For rejections: include specific items to fix, not just "it failed"

Input Discovery (for consuming agents)

Before starting work, always:

1. Check store_memory for relevant keys (omg:active-plan, omg:active-spec, omg:last-review)
2. Check .omg/ directories via glob for relevant files
3. Read the most recent relevant file to get full context
4. If nothing found: proceed with the task prompt as sole context

Trigger Keywords

handoff protocol, persistence protocol

Example

copilot -i "handoff-protocol"

Quality Contract

• Documents all .omg/ directories, store_memory keys, and handoff patterns