Create handoff
Write a structured handoff document under flow/handoffs/ to transfer work to another session. Explicit-only; run only when invoked via /create-handoff or the user asks for a handoff.From its SKILL.md
npx -y skills add corticalstack/flow --skill create-handoffAssembled from the repository path, not quoted from the project. Check it against their README if it does not work.
2 things to look at
- 1 stars1 stars. Stars are a popularity signal and not a quality one, but at this level it is likely that nobody has read this closely except its author, and you would be relying on your own review.
- runs commandsInstructs the agent to run 3 commands, including `git rev-parse HEAD` and 2 more.
SKILL.md
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Create Handoff
You are tasked with writing a handoff document to hand off your work to another agent in a new session. You will create a handoff document that is thorough, but also concise. The goal is to compact and summarize your context without losing any of the key details of what you're working on.
Process
1. Filepath & Metadata
Use the following information to understand how to create your document:
- Create your file under flow/handoffs/gh-<id>/YYYY-MM-DD_HH-MM-SS_description.md, where:
- gh-<id> uses the tracker work-item id (use general if no tracker reference). The literal gh- prefix is a stable filename convention across the repo regardless of which tracker the project uses.
- YYYY-MM-DD is today's date
- HH-MM-SS is the hours, minutes and seconds based on the current time, in 24-hour format
- description is a brief kebab-case description
- Gather metadata using git commands:
- git rev-parse HEAD for commit hash
- git branch --show-current for branch name
- git remote get-url origin for repository
- Examples:
- With a tracker work item: flow/handoffs/gh-123/2025-01-08_13-55-22_implement-streaming-api.md
- Without a tracker reference: flow/handoffs/general/2025-01-08_13-55-22_refactor-config.md
2. Handoff writing
Using the above conventions, write your document. Use the defined filepath and the following YAML frontmatter pattern:
---
github_issue: <number or null if no issue>
date: [Current date and time with timezone in ISO format]
git_commit: [Current commit hash]
branch: [Current branch name]
repository: [Repository name]
topic: "[Feature/Task Name]"
tags: [handoff, relevant-component-names]
status: complete
---
# Handoff: <description>
## Task(s)
{description of the task(s) that you were working on, along with the status of each (completed, work in progress, planned/discussed). If you are working on an implementation plan, make sure to call out which phase you are on. Make sure to reference the plan document and/or research document(s) you are working from that were provided to you at the beginning of the session, if applicable.}
## Critical References
{List any critical specification documents, architectural decisions, or design docs that must be followed. Include only 2-3 most important file paths. Leave blank if none.}
## Recent changes
{describe recent changes made to the codebase that you made in file:line syntax}
## Learnings
{describe important things that you learned - e.g. patterns, root causes of bugs, or other important pieces of information someone that is picking up your work after you should know. consider listing explicit file paths.}
## Artifacts
{an exhaustive list of artifacts you produced or updated as filepaths and/or file:line references - e.g. paths to feature documents, implementation plans, etc that should be read in order to resume your work.}
## Action Items & Next Steps
{a list of action items and next steps for the next agent to accomplish based on your tasks and their statuses}
## Other Notes
{other notes, references, or useful information - e.g. where relevant sections of the codebase are, where relevant documents are, or other important things you learned that you want to pass on but that don't fall into the above categories}
3. Save and Confirm
Save the document to the filepath.
Once this is completed, you should respond to the user with:
Handoff created! You can resume from this handoff in a new session with:
/resume-handoff <path/to/handoff.md>
For example:
Handoff created! You can resume from this handoff in a new session with:
/resume-handoff flow/handoffs/gh-123/2025-01-08_13-44-55_implement-streaming-api.md
Additional Notes & Instructions
- more information, not less. This is a guideline that defines the minimum of what a handoff should be. Always feel free to include more information if necessary.
- be thorough and precise. include both top-level objectives, and lower-level details as necessary.
- avoid excessive code snippets. While a brief snippet to describe some key change is important, avoid large code blocks or diffs; do not include one unless it's necessary (e.g. pertains to an error you're debugging). Prefer using
/path/to/file.ext:linereferences that an agent can follow later when it's ready.
What ships with it
Read from the repository
Just SKILL.md. No reference files, no scripts.
Gives 0 of the 12 instructions most docs writing skills give in ~1.0k tokens
Counted across 1,951 of the 3,904 authors here whose files we hold, read 2026-09-06
- Use third-person for skill descriptionsin 54 of 1951, across 35 files
- Start descriptions with Use whenin 43 of 1951, across 29 files
- Run baseline scenarios before writing any skillin 40 of 1951, across 26 files
- Use active voicein 40 of 1951, across 36 files
- Map file responsibilities before defining tasksin 36 of 1951, across 29 files
- Use checkbox syntax for tracking stepsin 35 of 1951, across 27 files
- Ask one question at a timein 35 of 1951
- Offer execution options after saving the planin 33 of 1951, across 24 files
- Include complete code in every stepin 33 of 1951, across 27 files
- Design units with clear boundaries and interfacesin 31 of 1951, across 23 files
- Announce the skill usage at the startin 30 of 1951
- Verify agent compliance after adding the skillin 29 of 1951, across 17 files
Said here and by no other author read
- create handoff document under flow/handoffs/
- gather git metadata for document frontmatter
- summarize context concisely
- reference files using path:line syntax
- list critical references and recent changes
- document task status and next steps
Grouped from the skills themselves: near-identical wordings counted once, and counted by distinct author, so one author publishing three of these counts once. Length counted with cl100k_base; the agent that loads this file may tokenize it differently.