handoff

name	handoff
description	Inter-agent / inter-activation / inter-repo handoff. Use when work, state, or messages cross a boundary between two cells, two roles, two activations of the same role, two repos, or two coherence-cell-shaped protocol packages. Owns the wire format; consumers (cnos.cdd, cnos.cds, cnos.cdr, future c-d-X) own the binding.
artifact_class	skill
kata_surface	embedded
governing_question	How do two parts of the system that are not co-located in time, role, repo, or activation transfer state coherently, without inventing the protocol per cycle?
visibility	public
triggers	["handoff","dispatch","cross-repo","bundle","proposal","clarification","artifact-channel","receipt-stream","inter-activation","inter-agent"]
scope	global
inputs	["handoff event (intra-cycle / inter-cycle / inter-activation / inter-repo)","active role (γ for cross-repo; δ for dispatch enrichment; ε for receipt-stream)","consumer protocol package (cnos.cdd / cnos.cds / cnos.cdr / future c-d-X)"]
outputs	["canonical handoff contract loaded (HANDOFF.md)","active sub-skill loaded (cross-repo / dispatch / mid-flight / artifact-channel / receipt-stream)","required Tier 3 skills selected"]
requires	["handoff applies (the matter crosses a cell / role / activation / repo boundary)"]
calls	["HANDOFF.md","cross-repo/SKILL.md","dispatch/SKILL.md","mid-flight/SKILL.md","artifact-channel/SKILL.md","receipt-stream/SKILL.md"]

Handoff

Load order

This skill is the package-visible loader entrypoint for cnos.handoff. External dispatch enters through handoff only — internal sub-skill triggers (cross-repo, dispatch, mid-flight, artifact-channel, receipt-stream) are advisory and are used only after handoff and the active sub-skill have been loaded.

v0.1 status. HANDOFF.md and the five per-surface sub-skill files named in this loader's calls: frontmatter are landed and canonical. v0.1 is complete; the cnos#404 wave closed on 2026-05-22 via cnos#420. See HANDOFF.md for the package contract and docs/extraction-map.md for the per-surface source pin and migration provenance.

When handoff applies (the matter crosses a cell / role / activation / repo boundary; not "I am writing matter for my own scope at my own time on my own branch"):

1. Load HANDOFF.md in this directory as the canonical wire-format contract. HANDOFF.md declares the package contract (what cnos.handoff owns; what it does not own) and indexes the five Landed sub-surfaces.

2. Load the sub-skill for the active handoff event:

   • cross-repo (proposal intake, outbound iteration, bilateral iteration, operator-pending): cross-repo/SKILL.md
   • dispatch (operator → α/β/γ/δ prompt + implementation-contract enrichment): dispatch/SKILL.md
   • mid-flight (γ → in-flight α re-pinning; gamma-clarification.md mechanism): mid-flight/SKILL.md
   • artifact-channel (intra-cycle α→β→γ sequential handoff over .cdd/unreleased/{N}/): artifact-channel/SKILL.md
   • receipt-stream (cross-cycle cdd-iteration.md + INDEX.md aggregator; ε reader feed): receipt-stream/SKILL.md

   All five v0.1 sub-skills are canonical at their cnos.handoff homes — landed via cnos#416 (cross-repo), cnos#417 (dispatch), cnos#418 (mid-flight + artifact-channel), cnos#419 (receipt-stream), with the cross-reference sweep closed via cnos#420. See docs/extraction-map.md for the per-surface source pin.

3. Load Tier 2 (process / role-local) and Tier 3 (lifecycle / kata) skills as directed by the sub-skill and the event shape.

4. Read the consumer protocol package's loader for any binding-specific overrides (e.g., CDS's .cdd/unreleased/{N}/ rooting; CDR's wave-shaped .cdr/ rooting; CDD's generic instantiation rules).

Rule

HANDOFF.md is the only normative source for:

• the directional case taxonomy (intra-cycle / inter-cycle / inter-activation / inter-repo)
• the wire-format artifacts per case (bundle file sets; dispatch prompts; clarification files; artifact-channel rules; receipt-stream records)
• the typed schemas (if any are lifted from Markdown into schemas/handoff/)
• the consumer protocol (how a CDD/CDS/CDR/future-c-d-X package binds the wire format)

Per-sub-skill files may add:

• per-case operational detail (e.g., specific bundle file sets per directional case)
• per-event evidence requirements
• checklists, examples, katas
• execution detail for the steps the sub-skill owns

Per-sub-skill files may not redefine:

• the directional case taxonomy
• the wire-format artifact families
• the consumer-protocol binding contract
• the boundary against CCNF-O (the orchestration grammar — cnos.handoff transports work; CCNF-O composes cells; see "Cross-protocol relationship" below)

Sub-skills

All five v0.1 sub-skills are Landed; the cnos#404 handoff extraction wave closed on 2026-05-22 via cnos#420:

• cross-repo/ — cross-repo state machine (8-event STATUS lifecycle: drafted/submitted/accepted/modified/rejected/landed/withdrawn/revised); bundle file sets per directional case (a/b/c/d); LINEAGE.md schemas per case; feedback-patch format; bundle archival rule; hat-collapse attribution. Migrated wholesale from cnos.cdd/skills/cdd/cross-repo/SKILL.md by Sub 2 of cnos#404 — landed under cnos#416.
• dispatch/ — dispatch-prompt template (operator → α/β/γ/δ); implementation-contract 7-axes schema; δ-as-inward-membrane enrichment doctrine; γ template ↔ δ enrichment ↔ α constraint ↔ β verification four-surface mesh. Migrated from cnos.cdd/skills/cdd/gamma/SKILL.md §2.5 + cnos.cdd/skills/cdd/operator/SKILL.md §3a + cnos.cdd/skills/cdd/delta/SKILL.md §2 by Sub 3 of cnos#404 — landed under cnos#417.
• mid-flight/ — gamma-clarification.md mechanism for intra-cycle re-pinning of axis values; γ-to-in-flight-α channel; cache-bust semantics; spec-staleness propagation. Authored from cnos#391 empirical anchor by Sub 4 of cnos#404 — landed under cnos#418.
• artifact-channel/ — intra-cycle α→β→γ sequential handoff rules over .cdd/unreleased/{N}/; per-role artifact write ownership; frozen-snapshot rule on merge; release-time directory move. Migrated from cnos.cds/skills/cds/CDS.md §"Artifact contract" wire-format invariants by Sub 4 of cnos#404 — landed under cnos#418. Per-artifact filename set, ownership matrix, and 13-stage Ordered flow remain canonical at cnos.cds (consumer-protocol-specific); the wire-format pattern (channel-shape, sequential rule, frozen-snapshot, release-time move) lives here.
• receipt-stream/ — cross-cycle cdd-iteration.md receipt-stream; per-finding shape (F1, F2, …); .cdd/iterations/INDEX.md aggregator; ε reader feed; cross-repo trace bundle on patch-landed with Cross-repo disposition. Migrated from cnos.cdd/skills/cdd/post-release/SKILL.md §5.6b by Sub 5 of cnos#404 — landed under cnos#419.

Each sub-skill is a handoff-specific extension of the wire-format contract in HANDOFF.md. The kernel grammar (cell-cell composition, scope-lift projections) is inherited from cnos.cdd by reference; the wire format itself is the substrate-independent piece this package owns.

Cross-protocol relationship

cnos.handoff owns wire formats and handoff doctrine for inter-agent / inter-activation / inter-repo transport. Three current consumers — cnos.cdd (which uses handoff doctrine natively for its own coordination layer), cnos.cdr (which has loaded cross-repo/SKILL.md via cross-package reference since v0.1 per cnos#376), and cnos.cds (which absorbed some surfaces during the cnos#403 wave and continues to cite others from cnos.cdd) — and an open class of future c-d-X protocol packages that will consume the same primitives once the extraction lands.

Boundary vs CCNF-O (Track A of cnos#405): cnos.handoff transports work between cells; CCNF-O composes cells into cycles, waves, roadmaps, gates, joins. The two have different reasons to change: handoff changes when the wire format changes; CCNF-O changes when the composition grammar changes. Each has one reason to change. Sub 1 of cnos#404 preserves this boundary by explicitly not preempting CCNF-O surfaces — no orchestration-composition grammar appears in this package; Track A of cnos#405 is gated on the cnos#404 wave closing.

Boundary vs the domain protocols (CDD / CDS / CDR / future c-d-X): handoff is the wire format; the domain protocols are the cycle lifecycles. CDD changes when the generic kernel changes; CDS changes when the software-engineering cycle shape changes; CDR changes when the research-cycle shape changes. None of those changes ought to ripple into handoff doctrine, and vice versa.

cnos.handoff is not CDD-with-different-words. CDD owns the cycle lifecycle and the CCNF kernel; cnos.handoff owns the wire format by which cycles talk to each other and the wire format by which roles within a cycle talk to each other. Loading the handoff skill is a class-routing act — the matter is a boundary-crossing event (intra-cycle, inter-cycle, inter-activation, or inter-repo); not "I am writing α-matter for my own scope at my own time on my own branch" (that's a domain-protocol activity, not a handoff event).

Conflict rule

If this file and HANDOFF.md disagree, HANDOFF.md governs.

If a sub-skill and HANDOFF.md disagree on the directional case taxonomy, the wire-format artifact families, or the consumer-protocol binding contract, HANDOFF.md governs.

If a sub-skill adds execution detail, evidence requirements, or operational gates for a wire-format case without changing that case's taxonomy or artifact family, the sub-skill governs for that local execution detail.

If HANDOFF.md and a consumer protocol (CDD / CDS / CDR / future c-d-X) disagree on the wire format for a handoff event, HANDOFF.md governs (consumers bind the wire format; the wire format does not adapt to its consumers). The consumer may add binding-specific overrides (e.g., directory rooting; filename conventions) but must do so in its own loader, not by re-stating handoff doctrine.

If HANDOFF.md and cnos.cdd (CCNF kernel) disagree on the cell-cell composition or scope-lift projections, cnos.cdd governs (handoff transports between cells; cell grammar lives in the kernel).

v0.1 surface

HANDOFF.md and the five sub-skill files named in this loader's calls: frontmatter are all landed and canonical as of 2026-05-22 (cnos#404 wave closed via cnos#420). See docs/extraction-map.md for the surface-by-surface migration provenance.

The canonical homes are:

• Cross-repo doctrine: cnos.handoff/skills/handoff/cross-repo/SKILL.md (landed under Sub 2 / cnos#416; compatibility pointer at cnos.cdd/skills/cdd/cross-repo/SKILL.md)
• Dispatch + implementation-contract: cnos.handoff/skills/handoff/dispatch/SKILL.md (landed under Sub 3 / cnos#417; consumer-side role-skill realizations at cnos.cdd/skills/cdd/gamma/SKILL.md §2.5, delta/SKILL.md §2, alpha/SKILL.md §3.6, beta/SKILL.md Rule 7)
• Mid-flight rescue: cnos.handoff/skills/handoff/mid-flight/SKILL.md (landed under Sub 4 / cnos#418; v0.1 software-cycle operational realization at cnos.cds/skills/cds/CDS.md §"Coordination surfaces" → "Mid-flight clarification")
• Artifact channel: cnos.handoff/skills/handoff/artifact-channel/SKILL.md (landed under Sub 4 / cnos#418; CDS-specific per-artifact contract at cnos.cds/skills/cds/CDS.md §"Artifact contract")
• Receipt-stream: cnos.handoff/skills/handoff/receipt-stream/SKILL.md (landed under Sub 5 / cnos#419; cdd-side runbook pointer at cnos.cdd/skills/cdd/post-release/SKILL.md §5.6b; live aggregator data at .cdd/iterations/INDEX.md)