Handoff Protocols

What it does

When your agent uses it

• Someone needs to hand off
• Transition a project
• Pass work to another person
• Brief a colleague taking over

Example prompts

• “Use the handoff-protocols skill to manage work transitions between team members or agents by creating structured handoff documents, summarizing…”
• “/handoff-protocols”

Workflow steps

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

1. 1Walk through handoff document
2. 2Show current state of code
3. 3Demo any working functionality
4. 4Explain key decisions and trade-offs
5. 5Highlight risks and unknowns
6. 6Answer questions
7. 7Verify recipient understands

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit d2e5c34. 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
  • npm

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

• Network

  No URLs in SKILL.md. Its commands use git and npm, 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 Protocols loads about 1.5k tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 154 tokens; SKILL.md has 333 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it

~154

When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches

~1.5k

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

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 rohitg00/skillkit at commit d2e5c34, republished under its Apache-2.0 licence (© rohitg00). 333 words, ~1,535 tokens.

name

handoff-protocols

description

Manages work transitions between team members or agents by creating structured handoff documents, summarizing project status, documenting key decisions, blockers, and open questions, and generating onboarding briefs. Use when someone needs to hand off, hand over, or transition a project; pass work to another person or agent; brief a colleague taking over; prepare a shift change summary; or onboard someone mid-task. Produces ready-to-use handoff documents covering current status, next steps, known issues, technical context, and communication templates for both planned and unplanned transfers.

version

1.0.0

triggers

handoff, pass to, transfer work, take over, continue from, pick up where

tags

collaboration, handoff, communication, context

difficulty

beginner

estimatedTime

10

relatedSkills

collaboration/structured-review, collaboration/parallel-investigation

# Handoff: [Task/Project Name]

## Quick Summary
[One paragraph: What is this and current state]

## Current Status
- [ ] Phase: [Design/Implementation/Testing/etc]
- [ ] Progress: [X% complete / Y of Z tasks done]
- [ ] Blockers: [Current blockers, if any]
- [ ] Next Action: [Very next thing to do]

## Context

### What We're Building
[Brief description of the goal/feature]

### Why
[Business/technical justification]

### Key Decisions Made
| Decision | Options Considered | Choice | Rationale |
|----------|-------------------|--------|-----------|
| [D1] | A, B, C | B | [Why B was chosen] |

### Open Questions
- [Question 1]
- [Question 2]

## Technical Details

### Architecture/Design
[Relevant diagrams or links]

### Key Files
- `path/to/file1.ts` - [Purpose]
- `path/to/file2.ts` - [Purpose]

### Dependencies
- [Dependency 1]: [How it's used]
- [Dependency 2]: [How it's used]

## Current State of Code

### What's Complete
- [x] [Completed item 1]
- [x] [Completed item 2]

### In Progress
- [ ] [In progress item] - [Current state]

### Not Started
- [ ] [Pending item 1]
- [ ] [Pending item 2]

## Known Issues

### Active Issues
- [Issue 1]: [Description and current understanding]

### Workarounds in Place
- [Workaround 1]: [Why it exists, how to remove it]

## How to Continue

### Immediate Next Steps
1. [Step 1]
2. [Step 2]
3. [Step 3]

### Things to Watch Out For
- [Gotcha 1]
- [Gotcha 2]

### Who to Contact
- [Name/Team] for [Topic]
- [Name/Team] for [Topic]

## Resources
- [Link to design doc]
- [Link to requirements]
- [Link to related PRs]

# Clean working directory
git status  # Should be clean

# Latest changes committed
git log -1  # Recent meaningful commit

# Branch is up to date
git pull origin main

# Tests pass
npm test    # All green

# Build works
npm run build  # No errors

Hi [Name],

I'm handing off [Task/Project] to you. Here's what you need to know:

**Status:** [Current state in one sentence]

**What I've Done:**
- [Accomplishment 1]
- [Accomplishment 2]

**Next Steps:**
1. [Immediate next action]
2. [Following action]

**Watch Out For:**
- [Important gotcha]

**Resources:**
- Handoff doc: [link]
- Code: [branch name]
- Related PR: [link]

Let me know if you have questions!

Hi [Name],

I'm picking up [Task] from your handoff. A few clarifications:

1. [Specific question 1]
2. [Specific question 2]

Also, I noticed [observation]. Was that intentional?

Thanks!

© rohitg00, Apache-2.0. 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 packages/core/src/methodology/packs/collaboration/handoff-protocols of rohitg00/skillkit.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit d2e5c34