How do I install the Handoff skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add anton-abyzov/handoff-2 in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

Is Handoff safe to use?

This skill has not completed SkillMD's automated safety review yet. SkillMD never runs a skill's scripts for you; review the SKILL.md before installing.

Which AI agents work with Handoff?

This skill is tagged as working with Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex. SKILL.md is an open format, so most agents that read a skills directory can load it too.

Is Handoff free to use?

Yes. Installing skills from SkillMD is free, and the skill stays under its author's original license.

Who published Handoff?

anton-abyzov (@anton-abyzov) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Handoff by anton-abyzov — Agent Skill

Name: Handoff
Author: anton-abyzov

File contents

Work Handoff (Cross-Tool)

No tool can read another's transcript. The portable thing is a ≤1-page handoff.md next to the increment, built from durable state (ledger fold, spec ACs, decisions, git diff) — any agent from any vendor resumes from it.

Steps

Release your claims (rule 5): specweave task release --all-mine.
Write the doc, adding only what the files cannot know:
```
specweave handoff [incrementId] [--reason "…"] [--summary "…"] [--next "…"] [--gotcha "…"] [--decision "…"] [--inline]
```
- id optional when exactly one increment is active; 2+ active → the CLI lists candidates, re-run with one.
- --inline embeds the full body in the paste prompt (moving machines).
- No SpecWeave workspace / no active increment → a git + notes handoff still gets written.
Surface the CLI output verbatim: doc path first, then the .diff path, then the fenced paste prompt.

What is written

.specweave/increments/<id>/handoff.md (+ handoff.diff with the full uncommitted diff) — the single location; .specweave/state/handoff-latest.txt points at it.
Sections: Where I left off · Done / Pending (ledger table) · Decisions · Files touched · Next steps · Resume, ending with the Doc format v2 marker. Header line = agent id, branch @ sha, uncommitted count, redaction count, active claims. The doc format is specified once, in the standalone sw-handoff skill (skills/sw-handoff/SKILL.md) — read it there when writing or checking a handoff by hand.
Secrets are scrubbed heuristically — review before sharing. Nothing is committed for you; commit handoff.md if the next agent works from another clone.

Resuming from a handoff

Read handoff.md → specweave task next <id> → claim → go. If the path does not exist on this machine, ask for the doc to be pasted; do not improvise context.

specweave status — where things stand, without writing a handoff. PreCompact hook writes the same doc automatically.
skills/sw-handoff/SKILL.md — the standalone, CLI-less version (vskill: npx vskill install anton-abyzov/specweave/sw-handoff) and the single source of truth for the document format.

---name: handoff-2description: Write a portable, secret-scrubbed handoff doc so this work can continue in any AI tool or on any machine. Use when saying "handoff", "running out of tokens", or "continue elsewhere".---# Work Handoff (Cross-Tool)No tool can read another's transcript. The portable thing is a ≤1-page`handoff.md` next to the increment, built from durable state (ledger fold,spec ACs, decisions, git diff) — any agent from any vendor resumes from it.## Steps1. **Release your claims** (rule 5): `specweave task release --all-mine`.2. **Write the doc**, adding only what the files cannot know: ```bash specweave handoff [incrementId] [--reason "…"] [--summary "…"] [--next "…"] [--gotcha "…"] [--decision "…"] [--inline] ``` - id optional when exactly one increment is `active`; 2+ active → the CLI lists candidates, re-run with one. - `--inline` embeds the full body in the paste prompt (moving machines). - No SpecWeave workspace / no active increment → a git + notes handoff still gets written.3. **Surface the CLI output verbatim**: doc path first, then the `.diff` path, then the fenced paste prompt.## What is written- `.specweave/increments/<id>/handoff.md` (+ `handoff.diff` with the full uncommitted diff) — the single location; `.specweave/state/handoff-latest.txt` points at it.- Sections: **Where I left off · Done / Pending (ledger table) · Decisions · Files touched · Next steps · Resume**, ending with the `Doc format v2` marker. Header line = agent id, branch @ sha, uncommitted count, redaction count, active claims. The doc format is specified once, in the standalone `sw-handoff` skill (`skills/sw-handoff/SKILL.md`) — read it there when writing or checking a handoff by hand.- Secrets are scrubbed heuristically — review before sharing. Nothing is committed for you; commit `handoff.md` if the next agent works from another clone.## Resuming from a handoffRead `handoff.md` → `specweave task next <id>` → claim → go. If the path does not exist on this machine, ask for the doc to be pasted; do not improvise context.## Related- `specweave status` — where things stand, without writing a handoff. PreCompact hook writes the same doc automatically.- `skills/sw-handoff/SKILL.md` — the standalone, CLI-less version (vskill: `npx vskill install anton-abyzov/specweave/sw-handoff`) and the single source of truth for the document format.

Frequently asked questions

Handoff