Handoff (Matt Pocock skill)
Compacts the current conversation into a handoff document another agent picks up cold. Four constraints separate it from a plain summary. The file is written to the OS temporary directory, never your workspace. It includes a suggested-skills section telling the next agent which ones to invoke. It duplicates nothing already captured elsewhere (specs, plans, ADRs, issues, commits, diffs) and references by path or URL instead. It redacts secrets, passwords and personal data. The argument you pass describes what the next session will focus on, and the doc is scoped to it.
Strengths
- Bans duplication: references specs, issues and diffs by path rather than copying their content
- A suggested-skills section: the handoff carries the method, not just the conversation state
- Explicit redaction of secrets and personal data before the file is written
- Written outside the workspace, so no stray file ends up in a commit by accident
Limitations
- A deliberately narrow scope: to stay in the same session, /compact does the job and the handoff is a detour
- File in the OS temporary directory: easy to lose if you meant to reread it three days later
- Quality depends entirely on the upstream conversation: a confused session produces a confused handoff
Best for
- Moving from one harness to another, or one directory to another, without re-explaining the context
- Delegating a parallel exploration (a prototype for instance) then bringing back what came out
- Handing work to a human colleague with a document they can read without your history