handoff

Handoff

What to produce

A single markdown document that gives a fresh agent everything it needs to pick up exactly where this session left off — without reading this conversation.

Reference, don't duplicate. Do not re-paste content that already exists in .harness/ files or other artifacts — link to them instead.

Step 1: Gather what exists

Identify:

• Every .harness/ file written or updated this session (path + one-line summary of what changed)
• Every code file created or modified (path + what changed)
• Any public root files updated (README.md, DESIGN.md, CHANGELOG.md)
• Any outstanding issues or blockers
• Any decisions made in conversation that are NOT yet captured in .harness/adr/

Step 2: Write the handoff document

Save to the OS temp directory — never to the repo:

• Resolve path: $TMPDIR → /tmp → %TEMP% (Windows)
• Filename: handoff-[YYYY-MM-DD-HHmm].md

# Handoff — [YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm]

## Context
One paragraph: what this project is, where it sits in the development lifecycle, and what this session accomplished.

## What was done this session
- [artifact or action] — [one-line summary]

## Current state
- **Phase**: ideation / product / engineering / implementation / qa / docs
- **Features done**: [list, or "none yet"]
- **Features in progress**: [list, or "none"]
- **Blockers**: [list, or "none"]

## Key decisions made in conversation
Only decisions NOT already in .harness/adr/. Omit ephemeral reasoning ("chose X because it was faster today") — only capture things that would surprise a future agent.

## Artifacts to read first
In priority order for the next agent:
1. [path] — [why it matters]
2. ...

## Suggested next skill
/[skill-name] — [one sentence on what it will do and why now]

## Notes for next agent
Anything surprising, any implicit constraints, or any context that doesn't emerge from reading the artifacts alone.

Omit any section that has nothing to say. Redact secrets, API keys, and PII before writing.

Step 3: Tell the user

Output the full absolute path to the handoff file. If the user wants to start a new session, they can paste the file contents as the first message.