Work rarely stops at a clean boundary. A person leaves for the day, an agent reaches a context limit, a specialist finishes one lane, or a decision must wait for evidence. The next worker then inherits fragments: a long transcript, a terse status line, a pile of changed files, or a confident “almost done.”
None of those is a handoff. A handoff packet is a small state-transfer artifact. It answers five questions in order: what is true, what was decided, what proves it, what must stop the work, and what is the safest useful action now.
§1A handoff is a transfer, not a summary
A summary compresses the past. A handoff prepares the future. That difference changes what belongs in the document.
| Artifact | Optimises for | Usually ends with |
|---|---|---|
| Progress update | Reassurance and visibility | What happened |
| Project summary | Recall and explanation | What the work means |
| Handoff packet | Safe continuation | The next bounded action |
The packet can link to history, but it should not make the next worker reconstruct the current state from that history. Put the re-entry point in the packet itself.
§2The five-layer packet
Each layer removes a different kind of uncertainty. Together they make the handoff useful even when the new worker has none of the previous conversation in memory.
The handoff packet
Read from orientation to action. If a lower layer depends on a fact that is absent above it, the packet is not ready.
- 01 / STATEWhat is true now?
The intended outcome, completed work, active surface, known gaps, and scope boundaries.
- 02 / DECISIONSWhat is already settled?
Choices made, reasons that still matter, rejected routes, and questions that remain genuinely open.
- 03 / EVIDENCEWhat supports the state?
The smallest proof set that lets the next worker verify claims without replaying the whole investigation.
- 04 / STOPSWhen must work pause?
Safety boundaries, missing authority, conflicts, failed assumptions, and conditions that require a decision.
- 05 / NEXT ACTIONWhat is the smallest safe continuation?
One bounded action, its first check, the expected artifact, and the point where ownership returns.
§3State should describe reality, not activity
“Worked on navigation” says what someone did. “The narrow-screen menu now opens and closes from the existing control; the wide layout is unchanged” says what is true. The second sentence gives the next worker a surface they can inspect.
Write state as outcomes and boundaries. Name what is complete, what is partial, what remains untouched, and which assumption is still unproven. If the work depends on a particular source or artifact, connect it to a verified source of truth rather than a convenient copy.
§4Separate decisions from open questions
A new worker should not unknowingly reopen settled reasoning—or mistake a tentative idea for a rule. Record each important choice with one short reason and its revisit condition.
Choice: keep the existing component. Why: the issue is state handling, not structure. Revisit if: the component cannot preserve keyboard access at narrow widths.
Open questions belong in their own list. A decision is an instruction until its revisit condition appears. An open question is an invitation to investigate.
§5Carry proof, not the whole diary
Evidence makes the packet independently checkable. Include the observed result, the focused check that supports it, and a pointer to the relevant artifact. Leave out raw transcripts, sprawling logs, and every command that happened along the way.
The right amount of evidence is the smallest set that would let a careful reader challenge the state. For a deeper method, use the verification ladder: start close to the claim, then move toward the real outcome.
§6Stop conditions preserve judgment
Handoffs often preserve momentum and accidentally discard caution. A stop condition carries the previous worker’s judgment across the boundary.
- Authority stop: the next step needs a person to approve a public or irreversible action.
- Evidence stop: a key assumption cannot be confirmed from the available source.
- Collision stop: another worker is changing the same shared surface.
- Scope stop: the useful next move would expand beyond the agreed task.
- Quality stop: the artifact no longer meets a stated acceptance condition.
A stop is not a vague warning. It is an observable condition plus the action to take when it appears.
§7End with the smallest safe continuation
“Finish the project” is not a next action. Neither is a list of everything still possible. Choose one bounded move that advances the outcome and produces a checkable artifact.
The next action should be small enough to begin without rediscovery, useful enough to change the state, and bounded enough to stop before new authority is required.
Include the first check because it tells the next worker where to look before acting. Include the expected artifact because it makes “done” concrete. Include the return point because ownership should never be implicit.
§8Compress without deleting the plot
- Lead with current truth. History is optional context, not the opening.
- Prefer pointers over pasted material. Name the relevant artifact and what it proves.
- Keep facts and plans separate. “Is” belongs in state; “should” belongs in next action.
- Record reasons only where they constrain the future. A decision without a useful reason is noise.
- Remove ceremonial language. If a sentence does not orient, constrain, prove, or enable, cut it.
Privacy is part of compression. Replace unnecessary identities and sensitive details with roles, neutral surfaces, or public-safe facts. The method in context without oversharing helps decide what the next worker truly needs.
§9A copy-usable handoff packet
transfer one bounded piece of work
HANDOFF PURPOSE
What outcome is being transferred, and to whom?
CURRENT STATE
What is true now? What is complete, partial, untouched, or unknown?
SCOPE BOUNDARY
What is included? What must remain unchanged?
DECISIONS
- Choice — short reason — revisit condition
OPEN QUESTIONS
- Question — why it matters — evidence needed
EVIDENCE
- Claim — focused proof — relevant artifact
STOP CONDITIONS
- If [observable condition], pause and [required response].
NEXT ACTION
One bounded action that advances the outcome.
FIRST CHECK
What should the next worker inspect before acting?
EXPECTED ARTIFACT
What concrete result should this action leave behind?
RETURN POINT
When does ownership return, and what decision comes next?§10The packet is ready when it can stand alone
Give the packet a cold read. Could a capable person or agent with no access to the previous conversation explain the current state, respect the same boundaries, verify the key claims, and begin exactly one useful action?
If not, add the missing fact—not the whole history. The goal is not perfect memory. It is a safe, faithful re-entry point.
Steal this
- Treat the handoff as state transfer, not a retrospective.
- Write outcomes and boundaries instead of activity.
- Separate settled decisions from open questions.
- Carry the smallest proof set that makes the state checkable.
- Put stop conditions before the next action.
- End with one smallest safe continuation and its first check.