domains / families / agent-tooling / session-handoff

session-handoff

combined

Use when context approaches capacity, before /clear or /compact, when switching tasks, or when ending a coding session: produces a structured handoff artifact for the next session. Creates comprehensive handoff documents for seamless AI agent session transfers. Triggered when: (1) user requests handoff/memory/context save, (2) context window approaches capacity, (3) major task milestone completed, (4) work session ending, (5) user says 'save state', 'create handoff', 'I need to pause', 'context is getting full', (6) resuming work with 'load handoff', 'resume from', 'continue where we left off'. Proactively suggests handoffs after substantial work (multiple file edits, complex debugging, architecture decisions). Solves long-running agent context exhaustion by enabling fresh agents to continue with zero ambiguity.

When to use

• Large context windows degrade in instruction adherence, reasoning precision, and tool accuracy as token counts accumulate. Long sessions fill with superseded plans, aborted scratchpads, and repetitive error traces. Resetting to a fresh ses…
• Context usage approaches capacity (roughly >60%) and a reset is coming.
• Before running `/clear` or `/compact` in Claude Code, Cursor, or Codex.
• When switching tasks mid-session, or ending a coding session that another session (or agent) will continue.

When not to use

• This skill produces a written handoff only; it cannot preserve live state such as running processes, uncommitted terminal output, or in-memory debugging context — record anything that matters explicitly in the note.
• Handoff quality is bounded by what the outgoing session records: decisions, dead-ends, or file changes that are not written down cannot be recovered by the next session.
• It does not replace version control or issue tracking; commit work first and reference commits or tickets in the note instead of duplicating them.

Skill page

Conflict

The two skills solve the same problem but prescribe different, non-interchangeable procedures. The softaworks copy is a tool-driven workflow that relies on specific Python scripts (create_handoff.py, validate_handoff.py, etc.) and a specific storage path (.claude/handoffs/). The sickn33 copy is a manual, principle-driven workflow that emphasizes git auditing, separating facts from speculation, and mandating owners for open loops, without relying on external scripts. Combining them is necessary to capture both the automated scaffolding/validation approach and the rigorous manual content requirements.