/aide:handoff — Session Handoff
Record current pipeline state to .aide/session.aide. This skill owns the orchestration; the aide-spec-writer agent owns the actual file write (it transcribes orchestrator-supplied state into the canonical format). The aide-maintainer agent (NOT this skill) owns deletion at feature close. See session.aide spec for the file format.
Hard constraints
- You do NOT write
.aide/session.aideyourself. The actual file write belongs toaide-spec-writer. This skill describes the orchestration that surrounds the delegation. - You do NOT invent content. The invoking agent (orchestrator or other) holds the conversation context — current stage, settled decisions, where work paused, anti-regression invariants. That context is the content source. If the conversation doesn't supply it, ask before invoking the skill — never fabricate state.
- You do NOT delete
.aide/session.aide. That belongs toaide-maintainerat feature close. This skill is exclusively for create/update.
Checklist
- Detect operation mode. Read whether
.aide/session.aideexists:- File missing → CREATE mode (first handoff for the in-flight feature)
- File exists → UPDATE mode (apply a surgical diff to the existing log)
- Gather content from conversation context. Before delegating, identify the specific pieces
aide-spec-writerneeds:- For CREATE: feature intent (one line for the frontmatter
intent:field); state summary (current stage + what was just done + what's blocked);## Where this cycle stoppedcontent (the next agent's instructions); architectural decisions settled (numbered list, if any); anti-regression invariants (bullet list, if any); process discipline notes (optional); open questions (optional) - For UPDATE: change description (what transition occurred); section-targeted edits (e.g. "append decision #4: ...", "rewrite
## Where this cycle stoppedto: ..."); numbered references to preserve (decision #N stays stable across edits)
- For CREATE: feature intent (one line for the frontmatter
- Delegate to
aide-spec-writervia the Agent tool (subagent_type: aide-spec-writer). The delegation prompt MUST:- Name the operation type explicitly —
session.aide CREATEorsession.aide UPDATE. The spec-writer's default operation is.aidefrontmatter; naming the operation is mandatory for correct dispatch. - Quote all supplied content verbatim — the spec-writer transcribes; it never invents.
- Name the operation type explicitly —
- Receive the verdict — CREATED, UPDATED, or REFUSED.
- REFUSED on
session.aide already exists→ the orchestrator should have called UPDATE. Switch the operation type and re-delegate. - REFUSED on
session.aide missing→ the orchestrator should have called CREATE. Switch and re-delegate. - REFUSED on ambiguous prompt or missing load-bearing content (feature intent,
## Where this cycle stopped) → gather the missing content from conversation context (or ask the user if it's not in context) and re-delegate.
- REFUSED on
- Confirm completion and continue with whatever pipeline work was in flight before the handoff was invoked.
What this skill does NOT do
- It does not interview the user. The invoking agent holds the conversation context; this skill only formats it into a delegation prompt for
aide-spec-writer. - It does not apply the Brevity Contract.
session.aideis operational state, not durable intent — no caps on description, no word counts, no forbidden-content rules from the.aidebody. The Brevity Contract is.aide-only. - It does not delete
session.aide. That belongs toaide-maintainerat feature close. - It does not bypass
aide-spec-writer. The skill is the orchestration layer; the agent owns the file write. CallingWrite/Editon.aide/session.aidedirectly from this skill violates the delegation pattern.
Source: aidemd-mcp/server — distributed by TomeVault.