How do I install the Pocock Handoff skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add zap-coding-agent/pocock-handoff 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 Pocock Handoff safe to use?

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

Which AI agents work with Pocock 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 Pocock Handoff free to use?

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

Who published Pocock Handoff?

zap-coding-agent (@zap-coding-agent) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Pocock Handoff by zap-coding-agent — Agent Skill

Name: Pocock Handoff
Rating: 4.2 (5 reviews)
Author: zap-coding-agent

Pocock Handoff

Use when a long conversation needs to be handed off to a fresh agent — applies Matt Pocock's discipline of clean context transfer so the next session starts with full understanding rather than re-deriving everything. Triggers on "handoff", "prepare for next session", or "summarise for a new agent".

File contents

Pocock — Handoff

"A handoff document is the diff between your conversation and the next agent's starting point." — Matt Pocock

The Problem This Solves

Long agent conversations accumulate context that isn't written down anywhere — implicit decisions, abandoned approaches, current state. When you start a fresh session, you either lose that context (and the next agent re-derives it expensively) or you paste in the whole conversation (and pay for it in tokens). A handoff document is the compression of the conversation into exactly what the next session needs.

Pocock's principle: the handoff document is a product artifact. It should be good enough that a developer who wasn't in the conversation could read it and continue the work without asking clarifying questions.

What Makes a Good Handoff

Decisions, not deliberations: record what was decided, not every option that was considered
State over history: what is true now, not the full story of how you got here
Next-step ordered: the first thing in the document is the first thing the next agent should do
Non-duplicative: link to PRDs, ADRs, plans, commits — don't copy-paste them
Skill-aware: suggest which skills the next agent should invoke to continue effectively

Process

Save the document to the OS temp directory — not the current workspace
Do not duplicate content already captured in other artifacts — reference by path or URL
Redact sensitive information (API keys, passwords, PII)
If the user passed an argument describing the next session's focus — tailor the document to that

Document Structure

# Handoff — [brief description]

## What we were doing
[1-3 sentence summary of the task and where we are]

## Decisions made
[Key choices with brief reasoning — link to ADRs where they exist]

## Current state
[Done / in-progress / blocked]

## Next steps
[Ordered list — the fresh agent starts here]

## Suggested skills
[Skill names the next agent should invoke]

## Relevant files
[Paths or URLs to the most important artifacts]

## Open questions
[Unresolved items the next agent needs to address]

REQUIRED COMPANION: handoff — the short-form version. pocock-typescript — Pocock's broader design discipline.

---name: pocock-handoffdescription: Use when a long conversation needs to be handed off to a fresh agent — applies Matt Pocock's discipline of clean context transfer so the next session starts with full understanding rather than re-deriving everything. Triggers on "handoff", "prepare for next session", or "summarise for a new agent".---# Pocock — Handoff> "A handoff document is the diff between your conversation and the next agent's starting point." — Matt Pocock## The Problem This SolvesLong agent conversations accumulate context that isn't written down anywhere — implicit decisions, abandoned approaches, current state. When you start a fresh session, you either lose that context (and the next agent re-derives it expensively) or you paste in the whole conversation (and pay for it in tokens). A handoff document is the compression of the conversation into exactly what the next session needs.Pocock's principle: **the handoff document is a product artifact.** It should be good enough that a developer who wasn't in the conversation could read it and continue the work without asking clarifying questions.## What Makes a Good Handoff- **Decisions, not deliberations**: record what was decided, not every option that was considered- **State over history**: what is true now, not the full story of how you got here- **Next-step ordered**: the first thing in the document is the first thing the next agent should do- **Non-duplicative**: link to PRDs, ADRs, plans, commits — don't copy-paste them- **Skill-aware**: suggest which skills the next agent should invoke to continue effectively## Process1. Save the document to the OS temp directory — not the current workspace2. Do not duplicate content already captured in other artifacts — reference by path or URL3. Redact sensitive information (API keys, passwords, PII)4. If the user passed an argument describing the next session's focus — tailor the document to that## Document Structure```markdown# Handoff — [brief description]## What we were doing[1-3 sentence summary of the task and where we are]## Decisions made[Key choices with brief reasoning — link to ADRs where they exist]## Current state[Done / in-progress / blocked]## Next steps[Ordered list — the fresh agent starts here]## Suggested skills[Skill names the next agent should invoke]## Relevant files[Paths or URLs to the most important artifacts]## Open questions[Unresolved items the next agent needs to address]```**REQUIRED COMPANION:** handoff — the short-form version. pocock-typescript — Pocock's broader design discipline.

Frequently asked questions