majiayu000 Escalate
Generate a handoff prompt for another agent when you're stuck and need fresh perspective.
When to Use
- You've tried multiple approaches and keep hitting the same walls
- You're going in circles and want a fresh perspective
- You need to context-switch but want to preserve progress for Codex CLI or another agent
Workflow
/escalate → Choose detail level → Choose handoff mode → Analyze session → Generate prompt → pbcopy
Step 1: Ask Detail Level
Use AskUserQuestion to ask:
How much context for the handoff?
1. Concise (~200-400 words) - Problem, key blockers, clear ask
2. Detailed (~500-800 words) - Above plus files, errors, code snippets
Step 2: Ask Handoff Mode
Use AskUserQuestion to ask:
What should the next agent do?
1. Continue - Pick up where I left off and solve this
2. Fresh perspective - Ignore my approaches, try something new
3. Validate first - Confirm my understanding, then propose alternatives
4. Other - [let user specify custom instruction]
Step 3: Analyze the Session
Review the conversation to extract:
| Section | What to Capture |
|---|---|
| Problem | The core objective - what you're trying to accomplish |
| Approaches Tried | Each attempt and why it didn't work |
| Current Hypothesis | What you think might be the root cause |
| Relevant Files | Key file paths that are central to the issue |
| Error Messages | Specific errors encountered (exact text) |
| Constraints | Things that must be preserved or avoided |
For concise mode: Focus on Problem, Approaches Tried, and one key blocker.
For detailed mode: Include all sections with code snippets and full error messages.
Step 4: Generate the Prompt
Template
# Problem
[Clear statement of what you're trying to accomplish]
# Approaches Tried
- **Approach 1:** [what you tried]
- Result: [what happened]
- Why it failed: [analysis]
- **Approach 2:** [what you tried]
- Result: [what happened]
- Why it failed: [analysis]
[Continue for each significant approach]
# Current Hypothesis
[What you think might be the root cause or blocker]
# Relevant Context
**Files:**
- `path/to/file.ts` - [why it's relevant]
- `path/to/other.ts` - [why it's relevant]
**Errors:**
[Exact error messages]
**Constraints:**
- [Things that must be preserved]
- [Approaches to avoid and why]
# Your Task
[Based on handoff mode:]
- Continue: "Pick up where I left off. The context above shows what's been tried. Find a path forward and solve this."
- Fresh perspective: "Ignore the approaches above - they haven't worked. Look at this problem fresh and propose a different strategy."
- Validate first: "First, confirm whether my understanding of the problem is correct. Then propose an alternative approach."
- Other: [User's custom instruction]
Step 5: Copy to Clipboard
echo "[generated prompt]" | pbcopy
Use a heredoc for multi-line content:
pbcopy << 'EOF'
[generated prompt content]
EOF
Step 6: Confirm
Tell the user:
Handoff prompt copied to clipboard. Paste into Codex CLI to continue.
Quality Checklist
- Problem statement is clear and self-contained
- Approaches include WHY they failed, not just WHAT was tried
- Hypothesis is specific, not vague
- File paths are absolute or repo-relative
- Error messages are exact, not paraphrased
- Constraints call out landmines to avoid
- Handoff instruction matches selected mode
Common Mistakes
| Mistake | Fix |
|---|---|
| Vague problem statement | Be specific about the goal and success criteria |
| Listing approaches without failure analysis | Always explain WHY each approach didn't work |
| Missing context | Include enough that the next agent doesn't need to ask clarifying questions |
| Too much detail in concise mode | Ruthlessly cut to ~300 words for concise |
| Forgetting constraints | Warn about approaches that look promising but have been ruled out |
Example Output (Concise)
# Problem
Trying to get Jest tests to run in a WordPress plugin. Tests pass locally but fail in CI with "Cannot find module '@wordpress/scripts'" errors.
# Approaches Tried
- **Verified node_modules:** Confirmed package is installed, same versions local and CI
- **Cleared CI cache:** Rebuilt from scratch, same error
- **Checked path resolution:** Added moduleNameMapper in jest.config.js, no change
# Current Hypothesis
CI environment might have different NODE_PATH or module resolution behavior. The @wordpress/scripts package uses a nested dependency structure.
# Your Task
Pick up where I left off. The context above shows what's been tried. Find a path forward and solve this.