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Agent skill

Handoff

by ayoubben18 in ayoubben18/ab-method

Compact the current conversation (or a side-topic that surfaced mid-grill) into a handoff document another agent can pick up.

MITAuto-check passedAgent Workflows

Install Handoff

skills CLI
$ npx skills add ayoubben18/ab-method --skill handoff -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install ayoubben18/ab-method handoff --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/ayoubben18/ab-method.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/.agents/skills/handoff .claude/skills/handoff && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Facts

Skill name
handoff
GitHub stars
192
Token cost
~696 tokens
SKILL.md length
356 words
Files
1
Skills in repo
26
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
MIT

At a glance

Compact the current conversation (or a side-topic that surfaced mid-grill) into a handoff document another agent can pick up.

  • Works in 3 steps: Write the tangent up as a handoff under… → Capture only the tangent — the question… → Tell the user: "Captured as a handoff —…
  • A tangent deserves its own task
  • SKILL.md covers Where to save it, The spin-off-mid-grill case, What the document must contain and Rules
  • Instructions only: no scripts, shell commands, URLs or credentials in SKILL.md

What it does

Handoff is an agent skill from ayoubben18/ab-method. Compact the current conversation (or a side-topic that surfaced mid-grill) into a handoff document another agent can pick up. Use when a tangent deserves its own task, or to summarize a session for a fresh agent.

Its SKILL.md is about 700 tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. It is a single SKILL.md file with no bundled scripts.

It sits in Agent Workflows. The repository describes itself as: A workflow system for Claude Code and Codex. It grills a problem into a domain-grounded plan, then either drives it through test-driven missions you review one at a time, or… The licence is MIT.

When your agent uses it

  • A tangent deserves its own task
  • Summarize a session for a fresh agent

Example prompts

  • “/handoff”

Workflow steps

3 steps, taken from the first numbered list in SKILL.md.

  1. Write the tangent up as a handoff under docs/handoffs/.
  2. Capture only the tangent — the question that opened it, the constraints already established, the decisions still open, and why it was…
  3. Tell the user: "Captured as a handoff — resume it any time with /create-task-from-handoff `." Then continue grilling the original topic.

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 85946e3. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

  • Tool permissions

    Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.

    From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

  • Runs code

    No scripts in the folder and no shell commands in SKILL.md.

    From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

  • Network

    No URLs in SKILL.md.

    From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

  • Credentials

    Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.

    From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Handoff loads about 696 tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 55 tokens; SKILL.md has 356 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~55
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~696

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check passed

The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from ayoubben18/ab-method at commit 85946e3, republished under its MIT licence (© ayoubben18). 356 words, ~696 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/handoff/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).
name
handoff
description
Compact the current conversation (or a side-topic that surfaced mid-grill) into a handoff document another agent can pick up. Use when a tangent deserves its own task, or to summarize a session for a fresh agent.
argument-hint
What will the next session be used for?

Write a handoff document summarising the current conversation (or a specific side-topic that surfaced) so a fresh agent can continue the work without re-deriving context.

Where to save it

Check .ab-method/structure/index.yaml first — the project's own copy if it has one; otherwise (a plugin install) the bundled default at ../../../.ab-method/structure/index.yaml relative to this SKILL.md, whose paths are still relative to the project root. In an AB Method project, handoffs are a tracked artifact, not throwaway scratch — save to docs/handoffs/[slug].md (the location the index defines). The slug is a short kebab-case summary of the topic, e.g. rate-limit-redis-vs-token-bucket.md.

If the project is not an AB Method project (no .ab-method/, and none of the index's docs/ folders — tasks, roadmaps, goals, handoffs — exist), fall back to the temporary directory of the user's OS — do not pollute the workspace.

The spin-off-mid-grill case

The most common trigger here: you are in the middle of a grill-with-docs / grill-me session and a tangent emerges that clearly deserves its own task. Do not derail the current grill. Instead:

  1. Write the tangent up as a handoff under docs/handoffs/.
  2. Capture only the tangent — the question that opened it, the constraints already established, the decisions still open, and why it was deferred.
  3. Tell the user: "Captured <slug> as a handoff — resume it any time with /create-task-from-handoff <slug>." Then continue grilling the original topic.
Show full SKILL.md (133 more words)Show less

What the document must contain

  • Goal — what the next session is meant to accomplish (use the passed argument verbatim if given).
  • Context — the minimum a fresh agent needs: what's been decided, what's still open, what was explicitly ruled out and why.
  • Suggested skills — which skills the next agent should invoke (e.g. grill-with-docs, tdd). For a deferred-task spin-off, the suggested next step is /create-task-from-handoff.
  • References — link to existing artifacts (PRDs, plans, ADRs, issues, commits, diffs, the parent task's progress-tracker.md) by path or URL. Do not duplicate their content.

Rules

  • Do not duplicate content already captured elsewhere — reference it by path or URL instead.
  • Redact any sensitive information (API keys, passwords, PII).
  • If the user passed arguments, treat them as a description of what the next session will focus on and tailor the doc accordingly.

© ayoubben18, MIT. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

Just SKILL.md in .agents/skills/handoff of ayoubben18/ab-method.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 85946e3

Compare with similar skills

Handoff next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.

Handoff compared with similar skills
SkillStarsUsed inTokensAuto-checkLicenceRepo updated
Handoff this skillayoubben18/ab-method192—~696Automated safety check: PassMIT
MCP Server Builderanthropics/skills180k63 repos~2.3kAutomated safety check: PassApache-2.0
Hook Development for Claude Code Pluginsanthropics/claude-plugins-official38k10 repos~4.1kAutomated safety check: NotesApache-2.0
Using Superpowersfarm-fe/farm5.6k35 repos~1.4kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Executing Plans Inlineobra/superpowers297k2 repos~5.1kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Skill CreatorAzure/azqr79589 repos~8.2kAutomated safety check: PassApache-2.0

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Categories

Questions about Handoff

What does Handoff do?

Compact the current conversation (or a side-topic that surfaced mid-grill) into a handoff document another agent can pick up. Handoff is an agent skill from ayoubben18/ab-method. Compact the current conversation (or a side-topic that surfaced mid-grill) into a handoff document another agent can pick up.

When should I use Handoff?

Handoff fits situations like: A tangent deserves its own task; summarize a session for a fresh agent.

How do I install Handoff in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add ayoubben18/ab-method --skill handoff -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (.agents/skills/handoff in ayoubben18/ab-method) into .claude/skills/handoff in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Handoff in Codex?

Run `npx skills add ayoubben18/ab-method --skill handoff -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (.agents/skills/handoff in ayoubben18/ab-method) into .agents/skills/handoff in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Handoff in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add ayoubben18/ab-method --skill handoff -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/handoff, .gemini/skills/handoff, .github/skills/handoff and .opencode/skills/handoff in your project.

What does Handoff need to run?

SKILL.md names no scripts, command-line tools or credentials: Handoff is instructions for the agent only.

Does Handoff access the network?

SKILL.md contains no URLs. Any network use would come from the scripts or tools the agent runs. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Handoff safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.

What licence does Handoff use?

Handoff is published under the MIT licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Handoff use?

About 696 tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 2.8k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full.

What are the alternatives to Handoff?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Handoff: MCP Server Builder (anthropics/skills, 180k stars), Hook Development for Claude Code Plugins (anthropics/claude-plugins-official, 38k stars), Using Superpowers (farm-fe/farm, 5.6k stars) and Executing Plans Inline (obra/superpowers, 297k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Handoff?

ayoubben18 (a GitHub user) maintains it in ayoubben18/ab-method, which has 192 GitHub stars. The repository holds 26 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 1, 2026.

Source: ayoubben18/ab-method on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.