handoff – A Skill for Compressing the Current Session into a Handoff Document

Skill Overview

The handoff skill compresses the current conversation into a concise handoff document and saves it to the operating system’s temporary directory, enabling the next agent to take over and continue working directly.

Applicable Scenarios

1. The context is nearly exhausted and continuation is needed: When a long conversation is approaching the context-window limit, use handoff to first preserve the key progress, pending tasks, and current status. A new session can then read the document and continue seamlessly without requiring everything to be explained from scratch.
2. Breaking a long task into multiple sessions: When a requirement cannot be completed in a single session and needs to be advanced in stages, generate a handoff document at the end of each session so the next round knows exactly how far the work has progressed and what to do next.
3. Relay collaboration among multiple agents: When different agents or developers take turns working on the same requirement, use a standardized handoff document to pass context and avoid repeatedly explaining the background.

Core Functions

1. Conversation compression and key-point extraction: Automatically organize the current session, extract the work objectives, completed portions, unresolved issues, and next steps, and produce a structured handoff note rather than simply listing the chat history.
2. Saving to the system temporary directory: The document is written to the operating system’s temporary directory, avoiding contamination of the current workspace and preventing handoff drafts from accidentally being committed to the code repository. This is an explicit constraint of the skill.
3. Deduplication and sensitive-information redaction: Content already recorded in artifacts such as specs, plans, ADRs, issues, commits, or diffs is not copied again; instead, it is referenced by path or link. API keys, passwords, personally identifiable information, and other sensitive data are automatically redacted.

In addition, the skill supports parameters describing the purpose of the next session. The handoff document will then be reorganized around that focus rather than covering all aspects equally.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the handoff skill do?

It organizes the current session into a handoff document so that a new agent can quickly understand the previous work and continue advancing it. The document is intended for the “successor,” not the “reviewer,” so it focuses on the current status, pending tasks, and reference links.

Where is the handoff document saved? Will it contaminate my project?

It is saved in the operating system’s temporary directory, not the current workspace. This is an explicit design choice: handoff documents are process materials and should not appear in your code repository. If you need to retain one permanently, you must manually move or copy it to an appropriate location.

Will the handoff document contain my API keys or personal information?

No. When writing the document, the skill actively redacts sensitive information, including API keys, passwords, and personally identifiable information. However, it relies on the model’s judgment, so for highly sensitive projects, manually review the handoff document before sharing it.

Will the handoff document duplicate existing spec or plan documents?

No. The skill is explicitly instructed not to duplicate content already recorded in other artifacts, but to reference them by path or URL instead. This keeps the handoff concise and avoids inconsistencies across multiple locations.

How can I make the handoff document focus on what the next session needs to do?

When invoking the skill, provide a parameter describing the purpose of the next session. The skill will treat this parameter as the focus and organize the document around it rather than covering the entire history evenly.

When should handoff not be used?

If the task is already complete and no one needs to take over, there is no need to generate a handoff document. Likewise, if the next session will continue within the same context, simply continue the conversation; inserting a handoff document in between would only add noise.