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Agent skill

Handoff

by koolamusic in koolamusic/claudefiles

Compact the current session into a handoff document for another agent or future session to pick up.

MITAuto-check passedAgent Workflows

Install Handoff

skills CLI
$ npx skills add koolamusic/claudefiles --skill handoff -a claude-code

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

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install koolamusic/claudefiles 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/koolamusic/claudefiles.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/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
130
Token cost
~909 tokens
SKILL.md length
262 words
Files
1
Skills in repo
13
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
MIT

At a glance

Compact the current session into a handoff document for another agent or future session to pick up.

  • Works in 5 steps: Gather state. Run these in parallel → Determine the output path. → Write the handoff using the structure… → …
  • Ending a session
  • SKILL.md covers Process, Handoff structure, Adaptation and Hard rules
  • Calls git

What it does

Handoff is an agent skill from koolamusic/claudefiles. Compact the current session into a handoff document for another agent or future session to pick up. Captures mission, repo state, role, scope, locked decisions, dispatch sequence, and a pickup checklist. Studio-aware. Use when pausing work, ending a session, switching contexts, or preparing for a fresh agent to continue.

Its SKILL.md is about 910 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, covering Session handoff. It works with Jira. The repository describes itself as: A minimal catalog of my favourite skills for working with claude. The licence is MIT.

When your agent uses it

  • Ending a session
  • Switching contexts
  • Preparing for a fresh agent to continue

Example prompts

  • “/handoff”

Workflow steps

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

  1. Gather state. Run these in parallel
  2. Determine the output path.
  3. Write the handoff using the structure below. If the user passed arguments, treat them as a description of what the next session will focus…
  4. Don't duplicate. Reference existing artifacts (CONTEXT.md, PLAN.md, RESEARCH.md, PRDs, issues) by path or URL. The handoff points to them…
  5. Redact secrets. Strip API keys, passwords, tokens, PII. If a secret is relevant context, note its purpose without the value.

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit b99ca65. 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

    Shell commands in SKILL.md call:

    • git

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

  • Network

    No URLs in SKILL.md. Its commands use git, which can reach the network depending on how they are called.

    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 909 tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 83 tokens; SKILL.md has 262 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~83
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~909

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 koolamusic/claudefiles at commit b99ca65, republished under its MIT licence (© koolamusic). 262 words, ~909 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/handoff/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).
name
handoff
description
Compact the current session into a handoff document for another agent or future session to pick up. Captures mission, repo state, role, scope, locked decisions, dispatch sequence, and a pickup checklist. Studio-aware. Use when pausing work, ending a session, switching contexts, or preparing for a fresh agent to continue.
argument-hint
What will the next session focus on?

Handoff

Write a handoff document that lets a fresh agent continue this work cold. The reader has zero context from this conversation — the handoff is their entire briefing.

Process

  1. Gather state. Run these in parallel:

    • git log --oneline -20 (recent commits)
    • git status (working tree)
    • git branch --show-current (active branch)
    • Check for .jira/CURRENT (active sprint)
    • Check for .project/PROJECT.md (project context)
    • Check for .workspacerc (studio workspace)

  2. Determine the output path.

    • If .workspacerc exists: read the workspace path, write to <workspace>/handoff.md
    • If .jira/ exists: write to .jira/sprints/<active-slug>/HANDOFF.md
    • Otherwise: write to the OS temp directory ($TMPDIR or /tmp)

  3. Write the handoff using the structure below. If the user passed arguments, treat them as a description of what the next session will focus on and tailor accordingly.

  4. Don't duplicate. Reference existing artifacts (CONTEXT.md, PLAN.md, RESEARCH.md, PRDs, issues) by path or URL. The handoff points to them — it doesn't restate them.

  5. Redact secrets. Strip API keys, passwords, tokens, PII. If a secret is relevant context, note its purpose without the value.

Handoff structure

markdown
# Handoff — <date> — <one-line mission>

## Repo state
- **Branch:** <branch>
- **Clean:** yes/no (if dirty: what's uncommitted and why)
- **Active sprint:** <slug> or none
- **Last meaningful commit:** <hash> <subject>

## Your role
<ORCHESTRATOR or IMPLEMENTER — and what that means for this session>

## Mission
<2-3 sentences: what you're trying to accomplish and why it matters>

## Scope
<Numbered list of scope items. Each item: what it is, rough effort, status (done/in-progress/not-started)>

## Locked decisions
<Decisions already made that the next session must not revisit. Reference D-XX from CONTEXT.md if available.>

## Open gates
<Decisions still pending that the next session needs to resolve before proceeding.>

## Dispatch sequence
<If orchestrating: recommended wave/agent breakdown. Which items can parallelize, which are sequential.>

## Operational practices
<Branch naming, commit conventions, PR process, testing expectations — anything non-obvious about how this repo works.>

## Pickup checklist
1. Read this handoff
2. <specific first action>
3. <specific second action>
...

## Not your problem
<Explicit scope boundaries: what's out of scope and should not be touched.>

## Suggested skills
<Skills the next session should invoke, e.g. /grill, /jira:plan, /spawn>

Adaptation

Scale sections to their relevance. A simple handoff (one task, no orchestration) might skip Dispatch sequence and Locked decisions entirely. A complex handoff (multi-wave sprint, multiple agents) needs all sections. Don't pad short handoffs with ceremony.

Hard rules

  • Never auto-push or auto-merge. The handoff is a local artifact.
  • One commit if committing: chore: write session handoff
  • Don't modify any sprint state. The handoff describes state; it doesn't change it.
  • Sensitive information: redact, don't omit. Note what the secret does so the next session knows to look it up.

© koolamusic, 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 skills/handoff of koolamusic/claudefiles.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit b99ca65

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 skillkoolamusic/claudefiles130—~909Automated safety check: PassMIT
Mex RelayBenCodez/VotingPlugin1001 repos~1.1kAutomated safety check: PassCustom licence
Orca CLIstablyai/orca88k2 repos~593Automated safety check: PassMIT
Beads Task Memorygastownhall/beads28k—~1.2kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Session History Searchslopus/happy24k—~3.1kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Paseo Agent Handoffgetpaseo/paseo20k1 repos~606Automated safety check: PassCustom licence

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  • Mex Relay

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    100 GitHub starsUsed in 1 repo~1.1k tokens
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    24k GitHub stars~3.1k tokensUpdated today
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  • Paseo Agent Handoff

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Works with

Categories

Questions about Handoff

What does Handoff do?

Compact the current session into a handoff document for another agent or future session to pick up. Handoff is an agent skill from koolamusic/claudefiles. Compact the current session into a handoff document for another agent or future session to pick up.

When should I use Handoff?

Handoff fits situations like: ending a session; switching contexts; preparing for a fresh agent to continue.

How do I install Handoff in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add koolamusic/claudefiles --skill handoff -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/handoff in koolamusic/claudefiles) 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 koolamusic/claudefiles --skill handoff -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/handoff in koolamusic/claudefiles) 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 koolamusic/claudefiles --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?

Going by SKILL.md and its folder, Handoff needs the command-line tools its instructions call (git).

Does Handoff access the network?

SKILL.md contains no URLs. Its commands use git, which can reach the network depending on how they are called. 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 909 tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 3.6k 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: Mex Relay (BenCodez/VotingPlugin, 100 stars), Orca CLI (stablyai/orca, 88k stars), Beads Task Memory (gastownhall/beads, 28k stars) and Session History Search (slopus/happy, 24k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Handoff?

koolamusic (a GitHub user) maintains it in koolamusic/claudefiles, which has 130 GitHub stars. The repository holds 13 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 8, 2026.

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