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Agent skill

Handoff

by openclaw in openclaw/agent-skills

Clipboard-ready handoff prompt for another agent to investigate or continue a task.

MITAuto-check passed

Install Handoff

skills CLI
$ npx skills add openclaw/agent-skills --skill handoff -a claude-code

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

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install openclaw/agent-skills 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/openclaw/agent-skills.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
1.1k
Token cost
~1.1k tokens
SKILL.md length
442 words
Files
1
Skills in repo
7
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
MIT

At a glance

Clipboard-ready handoff prompt for another agent to investigate or continue a task.

  • Works in 5 steps: Identify the task from the user text. If… → Gather enough context to write a useful… → Write a standalone prompt for a fresh… → …
  • SKILL.md covers Workflow, Handoff Prompt Rules, Prompt Template and Clipboard, plus 1 more section
  • Instructions only: no scripts, shell commands, URLs or credentials in SKILL.md

What it does

Handoff is an agent skill from openclaw/agent-skills. Clipboard-ready handoff prompt for another agent to investigate or continue a task.

Its SKILL.md is about 1.1k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. It is a single SKILL.md file with no bundled scripts.

The repository describes itself as: Useful skills for agents and claws. The licence is MIT.

Example prompts

  • “/handoff”

Workflow steps

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

  1. Identify the task from the user text. If the user gives only a short label,
  2. Gather enough context to write a useful handoff: repo/product identity,
  3. Write a standalone prompt for a fresh agent.
  4. Copy the full prompt to the clipboard.
  5. Final reply: terse confirmation with the task title. Do not paste the full

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 7e73306. 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 (its code samples are bash).

    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 1.1k tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 23 tokens; SKILL.md has 442 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~23
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~1.1k

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 openclaw/agent-skills at commit 7e73306, republished under its MIT licence (© openclaw). 442 words, ~1,103 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/handoff/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).
name
handoff
description
Clipboard-ready handoff prompt for another agent to investigate or continue a task.

Handoff

Write a clipboard-ready prompt for another agent to investigate, discuss, or work on a specific task.

Use when the user asks for handoff <task>, "write a handoff", "delegate this", or wants a prompt for another agent.

Workflow

  1. Identify the task from the user text. If the user gives only a short label, infer from the current repo, recent discussion, branch name, linked issue/PR, docs, and obvious nearby context.
  2. Gather enough context to write a useful handoff: repo/product identity, relevant issue/PR/branch names, likely modules, constraints, and known symptoms. Do not perform the receiving agent's full independent review or decide the final technical direction for them.
  3. Write a standalone prompt for a fresh agent.
  4. Copy the full prompt to the clipboard.
  5. Final reply: terse confirmation with the task title. Do not paste the full prompt unless the user asks.

Handoff Prompt Rules

The prompt must:

  • Start a discussion, not a command-only work order.
  • Ask the receiving agent to do an extensive independent review before changing anything.
  • Make clear that the receiving agent owns that review; the handoff only gives starting context and known constraints.
  • Ask the agent to decide whether the task is a good idea, stale, already solved, over-scoped, or better handled differently.
  • Assume the agent starts in the repo, a parent directory, a workspace directory, or a home directory and can find the repo itself.
  • Avoid filesystem paths. No absolute paths, home-directory paths, checkout names, or repo-relative file paths unless the user explicitly requests them.
  • Use portable anchors instead: repo owner/name, product/module names, issue/PR URLs, branch names, package/plugin names, public symbols, command names, config keys, exact error text, docs titles, and search terms.
  • Include enough context for the receiving agent to get the right repo, boundary, and desired outcome.
  • Include constraints, non-goals, validation expectations, and the desired output shape.
  • Tell the receiving agent to re-check live repo/GitHub/CI state where relevant.
  • Tell the receiving agent not to push, merge, close issues/PRs, label, or post public comments unless the handoff explicitly asks for it.
Show full SKILL.md (104 more words)Show less

Prompt Template

Use this shape by default:

text
I want to discuss and possibly work on: <short task title>

Context:
- <portable repo/product context>
- <what triggered this task>
- <known current state, branch/issue/PR names or URLs if relevant>
- <important constraints and ownership boundaries>

Before doing any implementation:
- Find the right repository from the current directory, a parent directory, or the usual workspace.
- Read the local agent/repo instructions.
- Inspect the relevant code, docs, tests, recent commits, and linked issue/PR state.
- Decide whether this task is still real, whether the proposed direction is a good idea, and whether a smaller/better fix exists.
- Call out stale assumptions, hidden risks, and anything that should stop the work.

Task:
- <what to investigate or implement if the review supports it>
- <expected behavior or decision criteria>
- <non-goals>

Validation:
- <focused tests/checks/live proof expected>
- <what evidence should be included>
- <what is explicitly not required>

Output:
- Start with your review findings and recommendation.
- Then give the proposed plan or patch summary.
- If you edit code, keep changes scoped and report exact proof run.
- Do not push, merge, close issues/PRs, label, or post public comments unless explicitly told.

Clipboard

On macOS:

sh
pbcopy < /tmp/handoff-prompt.txt

Use a temp file or pipe. Avoid inline shell quoting for prompts containing backticks, $, quotes, or user text.

If pbcopy is unavailable, use the obvious platform clipboard tool (wl-copy, xclip, clip.exe) or print the prompt and say clipboard copy was unavailable.

Quality Bar

  • No invented facts. Mark reviewed facts as such only after checking them.
  • No path leakage. Rewrite any accidental path as a symbol, module, command, issue/PR URL, or search term.
  • Enough context for a fresh agent to orient; no giant brain dump.
  • First real instruction to the receiving agent: review, discuss, assess.

© openclaw, 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 openclaw/agent-skills.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 7e73306

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 skillopenclaw/agent-skills1.1k—~1.1kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Session Handoff Documentthedotmack/claude-mem97k—~1.4kAutomated safety check: PassApache-2.0
Handoffalirezarezvani/claude-skills28k—~2.5kAutomated safety check: NotesMIT
Handoffalirezarezvani/claude-skills28k—~532Automated safety check: PassMIT
Handoffnexu-io/open-design100k—~547Automated safety check: PassApache-2.0
Session Handoff Writercodewhale-hq/Codewhale41k—~1.2kAutomated safety check: PassMIT

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  • Session Handoff Document

    thedotmack/claude-mem

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  • Handoff

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  • Handoff

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Questions about Handoff

What does Handoff do?

Clipboard-ready handoff prompt for another agent to investigate or continue a task. Handoff is an agent skill from openclaw/agent-skills. Clipboard-ready handoff prompt for another agent to investigate or continue a task.

How do I install Handoff in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add openclaw/agent-skills --skill handoff -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/handoff in openclaw/agent-skills) 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 openclaw/agent-skills --skill handoff -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/handoff in openclaw/agent-skills) 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 openclaw/agent-skills --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 1.1k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 4.4k 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: Session Handoff Document (thedotmack/claude-mem, 97k stars), Handoff (alirezarezvani/claude-skills, 28k stars), Handoff (alirezarezvani/claude-skills, 28k stars) and Handoff (nexu-io/open-design, 100k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Handoff?

openclaw (a GitHub organization) maintains it in openclaw/agent-skills, which has 1,102 GitHub stars. The repository holds 7 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 7, 2026.

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