Handoff

Session Handoff — Save State for Next Session

Capture the current session state so future sessions (or other agents) can pick up seamlessly.

Handoff is involuntary by definition — with exactly one sanctioned deliberate trigger. The only legitimate trigger is context pressure that forces the current session to stop mid-workstream before its next action can land. A handoff is a continuation-point, not a workstream-ending ceremony — if you find yourself reaching for /handoff because the work feels like a good place to pause, that framing IS the disqualifier. Workstreams end via /workday-complete, /merge-to-main, or commit-and-stop; never via handoff. The EM does not voluntarily invoke this skill at perceived stopping points. The single named exception: the plan→execute execution handoff. When review-integration has completed and the plan carries the PM's execution_authorized_at stamp, deliberately handing off to a fresh execution session is the empirically-superior next action (context saturation degrades execution reliability — see coordinator/docs/wiki/plan-execute-session-split.md), not a tidy-pause deferral. This is a specific, stamp-gated trigger, not a general license to hand off at any tidy point — every other trigger in this skill remains involuntary-only.

Continuation vs. fork. This skill writes a continuation handoff — work the current session was doing that someone (often you, next session) will resume. To carve off a different mid-session topic for someone else to pick up cold, use /spinoff instead — that produces kind: spinoff, predecessor: none handoffs, designed for fork rather than continuation. A next phase of the same multi-phase workstream (research → goal-setting → plan → execute → verify) is a continuation, not a fork — even when the phase boundary looks topically distinct. The next stage of this workstream is never a /spinoff; /spinoff is reserved for a genuinely different workstream. Do NOT redirect a legitimate phase-transition handoff to /spinoff because the incoming phase (e.g. research → goal-setting) reads as a new topic — the topic boundary is illusory; the workstream is the same one, mid-arc.

Recovery flavor. If you are writing this handoff to resume from a crash, kill, or other unclean termination of a prior session — not a clean stopping point — set kind: recovery in frontmatter. Point predecessor: at the crashed handoff or its last commit SHA when known; null is permitted when no recoverable predecessor exists. Recovery handoffs follow the standard continuation lifecycle (deployment_state, /pickup flow, archival); the tag exists so /workday-start surfaces them with a (recovery) marker and so the audit trail distinguishes crash-driven continuations from deliberate ones.

Recovery-flavor crash-rescue sweep (required when kind: recovery). Before exiting the recovery handoff write, sweep ALL files in state/handoffs/ for gate/state that the crash may have invalidated. The crash that motivated this recovery handoff likely also broke premises in concurrent or downstream handoffs: an awaiting_gate: <X> where X was the crashed work; an in_flight handoff whose source branch the crash left in an unknown state; a ready_to_fire next-step that assumed the crashed work had landed. For each affected sibling: edit the body inline with a one-line crash-invalidation note (**Crash-invalidated <YYYY-MM-DD>:** <one-line>) and flip deployment_state if needed (most commonly ready_to_fire → awaiting_gate with gate_dependency: recovery from <this-handoff-slug>). Authoring only the new rescue handoff while leaving stale siblings as live work strands the next session on a false premise. Skip the sweep only if the crashed work is a leaf with no concurrent or downstream handoffs — confirm by grep, not by recall. Specific grep targets: search state/handoffs/*.md and docs/plans/*.md for (a) the crashed handoff's filename slug, (b) the crashed session's branch name (work/{machine}/{date} shape), (c) the crashed workstream name from its frontmatter workstream: field, and (d) any gate_dependency: value naming the crashed work. Zero hits across all four = leaf, sweep may be skipped. Any hit = read that file before declaring the rescue handoff complete.

Instructions

When invoked, create a handoff document in state/handoffs/ (git-tracked). Each session writes its own file (unique timestamp), so multiple concurrent sessions never overwrite each other.

Path convention:

• Active handoffs: state/handoffs/*.md — current, available for /workstream-start pickup
• Archived handoffs: archive/handoffs/*.md — consumed, kept as paper trail
• Both are git-tracked. tasks/ and archive/ must NOT be in .gitignore — they contain session continuity data that travels with the repo. .claude/ contains only platform settings and does not need to be tracked.

Design note: Multiple agents may be running concurrently. This skill preserves ONE agent's work without assuming exclusive repo access.

CRITICAL: Write the handoff file FIRST, before commits or anything else. Handoffs are typically invoked when the session is near compaction. If you do git operations first, you risk losing the conversation context that makes the handoff valuable. Get the knowledge out of your head and onto disk immediately.

Execution Shape — gates vs. todo-list

This skill has a small set of sequential gates and a TODO-LIST cluster. Treat them as such — do not ladder-walk the todo-list under context pressure. Convention: docs/wiki/skill-step-parallelization.md.

Sequential gates (real data-dependency edges — must be in this order):

1. Step 0 (trigger check) — gate must pass to continue.
2. Step 1 (write handoff) — produces the scope: block that Step 3 reads.
3. Step 2.10 (code review consideration) — integrator-edited files must be staged in Step 3.
4. Step 3 (commit + verify remote) — consumes Step 1's scope: and any Step 2.10 integrator edits.
5. Step 3.5 (archive session claim) — consumes Step 3's pushed commit.
6. Step 4 (confirm) — informational summary after 3.5.

Todo-list (no edges between peer todo-list steps — execute in any order, batch parallel where two independently read/write different files):

• Step 2 — lessons (state/lessons.md)
• Step 2.6 — plan documentation (docs/plans/, tasks/<feature>/todo.md)
• Step 2.7 — archive uncaptured work (archive/completed/)
• Step 2.8 — build/test awareness (a note appended to the handoff body's Current State — reads Step 1's output)
• Step 2.9 — refresh orientation documents (pinboard + tracker + action-items)

These six touch disjoint surfaces relative to each other and none consumes another's output. All six share Step 1's handoff file as a prerequisite (Step 2.8 explicitly so — it appends to the body), which is captured by the sequential gate ordering: Step 1 always runs before any todo-list item. Where two todo-list peers are disk operations on different paths, run them in the same response via parallel tool calls. Step 2.10 has a soft preference to land with the todo-list cluster so its integrator edits stage with Step 3, but does not consume the 2.x cluster's output.

Doctrine-load-bearing exception: Step 1's "CRITICAL: write the handoff file FIRST" remains absolute — the handoff body is the irreversible artifact under context pressure, and every other step (including the todo-list cluster) is recoverable from disk on a successor session if compaction strikes. Order: Step 1 first (absolute). Then the todo-list cluster and Step 2.10 in any interleaving — disjoint surfaces, parallel-safe. Then Step 3 (fan-in of both), Step 3.5, Step 4.

Step 0: Trigger check — is context pressure actually forcing this?

Before writing anything, run this binary gate. The PRIMARY question is whether the current session can still take its next action; if it can, you are not handing off, you are deferring — and that's a doctrine violation regardless of how "tidy" the current state looks.

Trigger gate — at least one must be true → continue

• Auto-compaction is imminent or in progress and would lose load-bearing context before the next action can land.
• A Claude Code restart or MCP-bridge restart is unavoidable mid-workstream.
• A hard blocker (PM input, external system, after-hours wait) is preventing the next action right now — not a future step.
• The PM has explicitly invoked /handoff and named the workstream. Literal trigger only — "you can hand that off," "let's pass this to the next session," or "another session will finish it" are intent-descriptions, not invocations. The authorizing act is the PM typing /handoff (or the skill name) for this workstream, OR one of the first three context-pressure conditions above firing involuntarily. Do not promote an intent-shaped remark into a voluntary handoff — that is precisely the deferral-disguised-as-handoff the NO-tests below exist to catch.
• Plan→execute execution handoff (the one sanctioned deliberate trigger): review-integration has completed for a plan AND that plan's frontmatter carries execution_authorized_at (the PM approved execution — set at the coordinator:review Exit gate; see coordinator/docs/wiki/plan-execute-session-split.md). This is legitimate independent of context pressure — the fresh execution session is the empirically-superior next action (context saturation from planning + review degrades execution reliability), not a general tidy-pause license. Absent the stamp, this bullet does not fire — plan-approved-but-unauthorized is not a trigger; see the NO-test below.

If none of these hold, STOP. Take the next action in this session instead. "Plan reviewed," "looks like a good pause point," "feels tidy here" are not triggers — they are the trap.

NO-tests — any one of these → STOP, do not write a handoff (even under context pressure, redirect to the right artifact)

• The workstream's next action is /merge-to-main, or the terminal PR is already merged with no follow-up commits expected.
• The work is described in your head as "shipped," "complete on branch ready for merge," or "ready for the merge gate." That phrasing IS the disqualifier — write a commit message, not a handoff. Carve-out — a completed phase of an in-flight, named multi-phase workstream is NOT "shipped." Committed artifacts from a finished phase (e.g. research committed and ready for /goal-setting) are phase output, not a shipped workstream. The disqualifier is the whole workstream is shipped/merged with no next phase — NOT a phase artifact is committed. If the workstream is mid-arc and a successor must run the next phase, this NO-test does not trip; continue; the phase-transition YES-test below is the relevant one when you reach YES-tests.

<!-- Review: code-reviewer — F3: added "named" so carve-out gate matches the YES-test's "named multi-phase workstream" constraint; F2: replaced "route to" jump-language with "continue" to avoid implying skip of remaining NO-tests -->

• All in-flight chunks of the active plan have landed and the plan doc is marked complete.
• Plan is reviewed/approved but the executor hasn't been dispatched yet in this session — UNLESS the plan carries the execution_authorized_at stamp. A reviewed plan is scaffolding, not a deliverable — the next action belongs in this session (dispatch the executor), not in a successor's. Framing the session as winding down at plan-approval inverts the doctrine: plans exist to produce executed code. If acceptance criteria are still empirically unverified and no executor has run, STOP — dispatch, don't hand off. Handoff is legitimate only after the executor has run and there is genuine in-progress executor/integrator/test work for a successor to resume. For the plan→execute trigger specifically, the execution_authorized_at stamp is the discriminator that decides which branch applies:
  • Un-stamped (plan reviewed/approved but the PM has not authorized execution): this NO-test trips as written above — STOP, dispatch the executor in this session, do not hand off. "Looks tidy at plan-approval" is still the trap.
  • Stamped (execution_authorized_at present — PM has authorized a deliberate fresh-session execution, per coordinator/docs/wiki/plan-execute-session-split.md): this NO-test does NOT trip. The sanctioned plan→execute execution handoff (trigger-gate bullet above) applies instead — write the handoff, a successor session dispatches the executor via /execute-plan. This is NOT the EM treating plan-approval as a convenient pause point; it is the PM-authorized default outcome of review-integration, satisfying the anti-deferral rule because the next action genuinely belongs to the fresh session, not this one.
  • Un-stamped, but a genuine phase-transition trigger-gate condition independently fires (imminent compaction, unavoidable restart, or explicit PM /handoff invocation) and a successor session will run the execute phase in fresh context: this NO-test does NOT trip either — independent of the stamp. This is the pre-existing general phase-transition carve-out, not a special case of the stamp discriminator above; see the phase-transition YES-test below.

<!-- Review: code-reviewer — Finding 4 (P2): the stamp-is-discriminator claim at this bullet now scopes to the plan→execute trigger specifically; the un-stamped-but-trigger-gated phase-transition carve-out (previously HTML-comment-only and invisible to a runtime reader) is promoted into live prose as a third branch. F1 (prior pass): added phase-transition carve-out; without it the YES-test at line 87 is structurally unreachable for plan→execute boundaries — the exact case the memo wanted to fix -->

• You are also planning to invoke /workstream-complete for this same workstream. /handoff and /workstream-complete are mutually exclusive — never combined. /workstream-complete caps a workstream that is done; /handoff passes an in-flight workstream to a successor. The same workstream cannot be both. If the work is finished, STOP and run /workstream-complete alone. If it is in-flight, run /handoff alone — /workstream-complete will not also run on this workstream. If you genuinely have two workstreams (one finished, one in-flight), end the finished one with /workstream-complete separately, naming it explicitly, then write the in-flight handoff here for the other one — never bundle the two surfaces in one closing motion.
• The handoff frontmatter you would write has deployment_state: shipped AND pickup_ready: false (or any equivalent shipped+not-pickupable combination). That combination is a contradiction in terms — shipped work has no successor to pick it up. It signals the EM reached for /handoff as a generic session-summary template when the right surface is /workstream-complete (review trail + queue triage + archival sweep) or /workday-complete (daily ceremony). The handoff pipeline (/workday-start, /workday-complete, session-init orphan sweep, primary-list filters) treats every file in state/handoffs/ as in-flight work — a shipped handoff shows up where it does not belong and pollutes triage in concurrent sessions. STOP — write the artifact for finished work, not a handoff for it.

YES-tests — only consulted if all NO-tests fail

• In-progress edits not yet at a stopping point, AND a successor session must resume them.
• A plan in flight with remaining unexecuted chunks (not chunks that just landed in this session).
• Open blockers requiring PM input that arrived after-hours.
• A Claude Code restart imminent AND work in flight that the post-restart session must resume.
• PR open with reviewer feedback expected or unaddressed (iteration round counts as in-progress).
• Phase transition in a multi-phase workstream. The current session completed one phase of a named multi-phase workstream (research → goal-setting → plan → execute → verify) and a successor must run the next phase. The prior phase's committed artifacts are the input to the next phase, not a shipped endpoint — this is a continuation, and a handoff for it is legitimate even though the prior phase "committed." Do not resist it toward /spinoff (see the continuation-vs-fork preamble).

<!-- Review: code-reviewer — F4: removed "PM-invoked" qualifier; PM invocation is one of four trigger conditions evaluated at the gate layer before NO/YES-tests run; a compaction-forced phase-transition handoff is equally legitimate here -->

If a NO-test trips → STOP

The right artifact is one of:

• /workday-complete — end-of-day ceremony; Step 4 daily summary lands in archive/daily-summaries/, indexed by Step 9 in state/week-changelog/
• Commit-and-stop — for mid-day completion of a workstream that's already merged or PR-ready
• /workstream-complete — if lessons need capture but no successor brief is needed

If at least one YES-test fires AND no NO-test trips → continue to Step 1

Handoffs are mid-stream baton-passes, not end-of-session ceremony. Shipped ≠ handed-off.

---

Inverted antipattern — "I'll just append to the predecessor I picked up"

Parenthetical to Step 0 — applies whenever the EM has picked up a handoff this session and is now deciding whether to write a successor. Read it as a standalone callout, not a sub-decision of the YES-path.

The most common failure mode of this skill is skipping it: the picked-up predecessor (now status: consumed, consumed_by: <this-session>) is sitting right there, so the EM appends a ### <date> session — pickup, <progress> block to its Progress / What Was Accomplished section and stops. This is a doctrine violation, not a shortcut. A consumed handoff is paper trail; the pickup index (/workday-start, /pickup, session-init orphan sweep) treats consumed handoffs as historical and will NOT surface them as live work — any progress stapled into the body is invisible to the next opener. The carry-forward / cascade machinery, the YES-test/NO-test gate, the chain-archival, the new frontmatter (status: active, deployment_state: ready_to_fire, predecessor: <this consumed file>) — all of that exists precisely because a successor file is the only surface the index can find. If you are about to edit a status: consumed handoff body to record what you just did, STOP and run this skill from Step 1 — the YES/NO gate above still applies (a session that doesn't pass it stops via commit / /workday-complete / /workstream-complete, not via predecessor-append). Enforced at the tool layer by hooks/scripts/block-consumed-handoff-edit.sh; tripwire CONSUMED-HANDOFF-FROZEN in docs/wiki/coordinator-tripwires.md. Override COORDINATOR_OVERRIDE_CONSUMED_HANDOFF_EDIT=1 is reserved for recovery-flavor crash-invalidation notes into sibling consumed handoffs (see this skill's recovery-flavor preamble) and one-off paper-trail corrections — never progress appends.

Workflow

Step 1: Write the Handoff (IMMEDIATELY)

Do this first. Do not run git commands, read files, or do anything else before writing the handoff. You already have everything you need in your conversation context.

Generate a filename: state/handoffs/{YYYY-MM-DD}_{HHMMSS}_{session-id}.md where:

• {YYYY-MM-DD} is the current date
• {HHMMSS} is the current time in 24-hour format (e.g., 143052 for 2:30:52 PM)
• {session-id} is a short identifier (first 8 chars of session UUID if known, otherwise manual)

Primary source: your conversation context. You know what you worked on, what files you modified, what decisions were made. Use that — don't rely on git log to reconstruct your session.

Create the file using coordinator-doc-new — the GENERATE altitude that derives conformant frontmatter from the registry and writes a canonical section skeleton to disk:

Deliverable-spine threading (D1 carry-not-remint). Before scaffolding, resolve the deliverable_id this handoff will carry so it joins the correct deliverable rather than forking a new identity. Discovery order:

1. Active plan — the plan whose execution this handoff is checkpointing. Grep its frontmatter.
2. Predecessor handoff — fall back to the predecessor named in this handoff. Grep its frontmatter.
3. Mint — when no parent id is discoverable from context, mint a fresh id via the shared helper.

Run the entire block below as a single Bash call. $DLVR_ID and $INITIATIVE_ID are plain shell variables — they do not survive between separate Bash invocations. The resolution and the coordinator-doc-new scaffolding call MUST share the same shell process; splitting them into two calls causes --deliverable-id "$DLVR_ID" to receive an empty string, defeating the D1 carry-not-remint intent.

# C3d — deliverable_id auto-inheritance (D1 carry-not-remint rule)
# Set PLAN_FILE to the plan this handoff checkpoints; PREDECESSOR to the predecessor handoff path.
_COORDINATOR="${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT:-$(cat "${CLAUDE_HOME:-$HOME}/.claude/.doe-root" 2>/dev/null)/coordinator}"
_cc_doe="$(cat "${CLAUDE_HOME:-$HOME}/.claude/.doe-root" 2>/dev/null || true)"
_cc_doe="${_cc_doe%/}"   # trailing-slash normalization: prevents //* false-reject on stale/hand-edited .doe-root
_cc_trusted=0
case "$_COORDINATOR" in
  "${CLAUDE_HOME:-$HOME}/.claude/"*) _cc_trusted=1 ;;
esac
[ -n "$_cc_doe" ] && case "$_COORDINATOR" in "$_cc_doe"/*) _cc_trusted=1 ;; esac
case "$_COORDINATOR" in *"/.."*) _cc_trusted=0 ;; esac   # load-bearing traversal check; dotdot-prefixed name (e.g. ..cache) is accepted false-reject edge
[ "${COORDINATOR_PLUGIN_ROOT_TRUSTED:-}" = 1 ] && _cc_trusted=1   # sanctioned --plugin-dir spike opt-out
[ "$_cc_trusted" = 1 ] || { echo "ERROR: coordinator root '$_COORDINATOR' outside trusted prefix — refusing to source; re-run coordinator:install (or set COORDINATOR_PLUGIN_ROOT_TRUSTED=1 for a sanctioned --plugin-dir spike)" >&2; exit 1; }
[ -d "$_COORDINATOR" ] || { echo "ERROR: coordinator root unresolved — ~/.claude/.doe-root missing/invalid; re-run coordinator:install" >&2; exit 1; }
DLVR_ID=""
# 1. Active plan
if [ -n "${PLAN_FILE:-}" ] && [ -f "${PLAN_FILE}" ]; then
  DLVR_ID=$(bash "${_COORDINATOR}/bin/read-frontmatter-field.sh" "${PLAN_FILE}" deliverable_id)
fi
# 2. Predecessor handoff
if [ -z "$DLVR_ID" ] && [ -n "${PREDECESSOR:-}" ] && [ -f "${PREDECESSOR}" ]; then
  DLVR_ID=$(bash "${_COORDINATOR}/bin/read-frontmatter-field.sh" "${PREDECESSOR}" deliverable_id)
fi
# 3. Carry or mint via shared helper (logs "carry path" / "mint-from-slug path" to stderr)
if [ -n "$DLVR_ID" ]; then
  DLVR_ID=$(bash "${_COORDINATOR}/bin/mint-deliverable-id.sh" --deliverable-id "$DLVR_ID")
else
  _SLUG="$(date +%Y%m%d)-handoff"
  DLVR_ID=$(bash "${_COORDINATOR}/bin/mint-deliverable-id.sh" --slug "$_SLUG")
fi
# Also carry initiative: FK from plan frontmatter, with predecessor fallback (continuation handoffs
# inherit the predecessor's initiative FK when the plan doesn't carry one):
INITIATIVE_ID=$(bash "${_COORDINATOR}/bin/read-frontmatter-field.sh" "${PLAN_FILE:-}" initiative)
if [ -z "$INITIATIVE_ID" ] && [ -n "${PREDECESSOR:-}" ] && [ -f "${PREDECESSOR}" ]; then
  INITIATIVE_ID=$(bash "${_COORDINATOR}/bin/read-frontmatter-field.sh" "${PREDECESSOR}" initiative)
fi
# C2 (lifecycle-vocab) — predecessor_id ID-companion (add-not-swap, populate-at-author-time).
# Resolves the SAME predecessor the PREDECESSOR path above already names — never a
# different one (adjacency-inference ban unaffected, see CLAUDE.md § Handoff Lineage).
# Null when PREDECESSOR is unset/none, or when the predecessor file carries no handoff_id
# (pre-existing artifact, no backfill — C2 is going-forward-only per PM ratification).
PREDECESSOR_ID=""
if [ -n "${PREDECESSOR:-}" ] && [ -f "${PREDECESSOR}" ]; then
  PREDECESSOR_ID=$(bash "${_COORDINATOR}/bin/read-frontmatter-field.sh" "${PREDECESSOR}" handoff_id)
fi
# Date+time+session-id filename convention (unique-per-session rule):
HANDOFF_FILE="state/handoffs/$(date +%Y-%m-%d)_$(date +%H%M%S)_${CLAUDE_CODE_SESSION_ID:-manual}.md"
coordinator-doc-new --type handoff \
    --title "<one-line title>" \
    --deliverable-id "$DLVR_ID" \
    --initiative "$INITIATIVE_ID" \
    --out "$HANDOFF_FILE"
# deliverable_id + initiative are written directly by the --deliverable-id/--initiative args above — no manual Edit needed.

The scaffolder writes title:, created:, branch: (auto-detected), status: active, predecessor: none, kind: session-handoff, deployment_state: ready_to_fire, category: infra, a placeholder summary:, and pickup_ready: true — plus the canonical body skeleton (## What Was Accomplished, ## Current State, ## Next Steps, ## Session Ledger). Open the scaffolded file via Edit and:

1. Set frontmatter fields (replace/add):

   • predecessor: — predecessor handoff filename, or none for a fresh workstream
   • predecessor_id: — set to $PREDECESSOR_ID resolved above (ID-companion for predecessor:, C2 add-not-swap); null when predecessor: is none/unset or the predecessor carries no handoff_id. Never resolve this to a DIFFERENT predecessor than the path field names — it is a companion ID for the same edge, not an independent ancestry choice.
   • workstream: — add: short slug, e.g. scoped-safety-commits
   • scope: — add: git pathspec block (files this workstream owns; required for Step 3's scoped commit)
   • category: — update from scaffold default (infra) unless it is correct
   • summary: — replace placeholder with a one-line tl;dr (≤120 chars; required ≥ 2026-05-29)
   • deployment_state: — ready_to_fire (default), awaiting_gate + gate_dependency: <one-line> (gated; subsystem-named, not file-pathed), or in_flight
   • deliverable_id: — auto-written by the scaffold args above; verify-only, do not hand-set (D1 carry-not-remint rule; see bin/mint-deliverable-id.sh)
   • initiative: — auto-written by the scaffold args above; verify-only, do not hand-set ($INITIATIVE_ID from plan frontmatter with predecessor fallback; nullable)
   • reviewed_at_workstream_complete: — omit on initial write; Step 2.10 fills this after code review; format <sha-range> <reviewer> <YYYY-MM-DD>; reviewer is one of code-reviewer | the Staff Engineer | code-reviewer+the Staff Engineer | waived; omit on kind: spinoff / spinoff-roadmap
   • pickup_ready: true — emitted by the scaffolder; do NOT remove (absence triggers a non-blocking warning at /pickup)

2. Fill and extend the body (Edit into the scaffolded sections; add sections the scaffold does not emit):

   • ## What Was Accomplished — _Continuing from [predecessor]: …_ preamble + bullets of completed work
   • ## Current State — build status, tests, branch, remote sync, uncommitted changes
   • ## In-Progress Work — (add) what was being worked on when the session ended; describe state, not procedure
   • ## Key Decisions Made — (add) 2-5 decisions with Observed/Considered/Chose, where knowing "why" matters
   • ## Blockers or Issues — (add) genuine PM-input/external-system blockers only; break-class defects fix in-session, not here (→ global CLAUDE.md § Flag Severity; docs/wiki/flag-severity-triage.md)
   • ## Recommended Next Steps — (scaffold emits "Next Steps"; rename + expand) behavioral outcomes with explicit out-of-scope line
   • ## Carried Forward — (add, only when there IS a predecessor) unresolved items from predecessor with origin annotation
   • ## Files Modified This Session — (add) path and one-line description per file
   • ## Plan to Execute — (add, ONLY for a plan→execute execution handoff) the plan path, plus a line citing the plan's execution_authorized_at, execution_authorized_sha, and execution_authorized_note stamp fields as the premises the picking-up session must verify at /pickup Step 3.4e before invoking /execute-plan — execution_authorized_sha must be recomputed against the current plan body and compared for staleness, not just checked for presence. This Step 3.4e recompute is defense-in-depth: the same recompute-and-compare is also performed inside /execute-plan Phase 1 step 2 itself, so a session that invokes /execute-plan directly, bypassing /pickup, still gets the staleness check. See coordinator/docs/wiki/plan-execute-session-split.md. <!-- Review: code-reviewer — Finding 4 (P2), defense-in-depth cross-reference: noted the sha staleness recompute runs at both /pickup Step 3.4e and /execute-plan Phase 1 step 2, mirroring the equivalent note added to execute-plan/SKILL.md. -->
   • ## Session Ledger — populate per the ledger instructions below

Recovery flavor: scaffold with coordinator-doc-new --type handoff, then Edit to set kind: recovery. Point predecessor: at the crashed handoff filename or its last commit SHA (null permitted when no recoverable predecessor exists). When predecessor: names a crashed handoff FILE (not a bare commit SHA), also resolve and set predecessor_id: from that file's handoff_id the same way as the standard flow above; a bare-SHA predecessor has no handoff_id to resolve, so predecessor_id: stays null.

Populate the Session Ledger immediately after writing the handoff body (still in Step 1, before Step 2). This is the per-session contribution slice that the chain-terminal aggregator (Chunk 5) will sum across the predecessor chain.

Invocation: coordinator-session-loe.sh does not emit a --format markdown mode. Use --format json and render the table fields manually:

_cc_root="${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT:-$(cat "${CLAUDE_HOME:-$HOME}/.claude/.doe-root" 2>/dev/null)/coordinator}"
_cc_doe="$(cat "${CLAUDE_HOME:-$HOME}/.claude/.doe-root" 2>/dev/null || true)"
_cc_doe="${_cc_doe%/}"   # trailing-slash normalization: prevents //* false-reject on stale/hand-edited .doe-root
_cc_trusted=0
case "$_cc_root" in
  "${CLAUDE_HOME:-$HOME}/.claude/"*) _cc_trusted=1 ;;
esac
[ -n "$_cc_doe" ] && case "$_cc_root" in "$_cc_doe"/*) _cc_trusted=1 ;; esac
case "$_cc_root" in *"/.."*) _cc_trusted=0 ;; esac   # load-bearing traversal check; dotdot-prefixed name (e.g. ..cache) is accepted false-reject edge
[ "${COORDINATOR_PLUGIN_ROOT_TRUSTED:-}" = 1 ] && _cc_trusted=1   # sanctioned --plugin-dir spike opt-out
[ "$_cc_trusted" = 1 ] || { echo "ERROR: coordinator root '$_cc_root' outside trusted prefix — refusing to source; re-run coordinator:install (or set COORDINATOR_PLUGIN_ROOT_TRUSTED=1 for a sanctioned --plugin-dir spike)" >&2; exit 1; }
[ -d "$_cc_root" ] || { echo "ERROR: coordinator root unresolved — ~/.claude/.doe-root missing/invalid; re-run coordinator:install" >&2; exit 1; }
# Resolve session ID via canonical 4-tier resolver (COORDINATOR_SESSION_ID →
# CLAUDE_SESSION_ID → CLAUDE_CODE_SESSION_ID → sentinel). Spec: C1.
source "${_cc_root}/lib/coordinator-session.sh"
SID="$(cs_resolve_session_id)"; SID="${SID:-unknown}"

# Get LoE metrics
LOE=$(bash "${_cc_root}/bin/coordinator-session-loe.sh" \
      --session-id "$SID" --format json 2>/dev/null || echo '{"agent_dispatches":0,"opus_dispatches":0,"em_tokens":null,"tshirt":"XS"}')

# Extract fields (requires jq or inline bash parsing)
AD=$(echo "$LOE" | grep -o '"agent_dispatches": *[0-9]*' | grep -o '[0-9]*$')
OD=$(echo "$LOE" | grep -o '"opus_dispatches": *[0-9]*' | grep -o '[0-9]*$')
TOK=$(echo "$LOE" | grep -o '"em_tokens": *[^,}]*' | sed 's/.*: *//')
TS=$(echo "$LOE" | grep -o '"tshirt": *"[^"]*"' | grep -o '"[^"]*"$' | tr -d '"')

# Commits since session start (best-effort: last 20, space-separated short SHAs)
COMMITS=$(git log --oneline -20 --format="%h" 2>/dev/null | tr '\n' ' ' | sed 's/ $//')

# Timestamp
CREATED=$(date -u +"%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ" 2>/dev/null || date +"%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ")

Then replace the placeholder comment cells in the ## Session Ledger block with the resolved values before writing the file to disk.

Multi-ledger rule (re-pickup / recovery flavor): If the handoff being written already contains a ## Session Ledger block — because this is a recovery flavor or re-pickup of an existing handoff doc — DO NOT overwrite that block. Instead, append a second ## Session Ledger block below the existing one. Multiple ledger blocks in one handoff file = multiple sessions touched the same workstream. The chain-aggregator (Chunk 5) and bin/query-completions --type handoff-ledger (Chunk 6) parse ALL ## Session Ledger blocks in a file as separate synthetic records, using session_id as the deduplicator.

Design note — body, not frontmatter. Session Ledger lives in the body, not in the YAML frontmatter. The frontmatter schema (schemas/handoff.schema.json) already carries reviewed_at_workstream_complete; adding LoE there would bloat the schema and complicate bin/query-records frontmatter parsing. Body placement keeps the data accessible to the Chunk 6 query extension without schema changes.

Spec backlink: archive/specs/2026-05/2026-05-19-completion-log-phase2-loe-and-handoff-ledger.md § Chunk 4 (plan lines 162–188).

Durability Rules for Next-Steps and In-Progress Sections

These four rules apply specifically to ## Recommended Next Steps and ## In-Progress Work. They do not apply to ## Current State or ## Files Modified This Session — those sections legitimately carry procedural detail and file paths because they are describing what is, not prescribing what to do.

1. No file paths or line numbers in next-steps prose. They go stale within hours — a renamed file or merged diff makes the step wrong before the next session even opens it. Reference subsystems, components, and concepts instead. Exception: when the path IS the artifact (e.g., "the plan at docs/plans/X.md"), that's an identifier, not a procedural step — fine to include.

2. Behavioral, not procedural. Describe what the next session needs to accomplish, not how to accomplish it. The "how" goes stale; the "what" is durable. Bad: "run npm test and fix the three failures in src/auth/token.ts:142." Good: "get the auth token tests green — they are failing against the new expiry contract."

3. Each next step is independently verifiable. The picker should be able to confirm "done" without reading this handoff again. If a step can't be verified on its own, break it down or add an acceptance signal.

4. Explicit out-of-scope line. Every ## Recommended Next Steps section should end with an "Out of scope for next session" line naming what the next session should NOT expand into. This prevents a fresh-eyed picker from gold-plating or drifting.

Anti-amnesia chain: The _Continuing from..._ preamble in ## What Was Accomplished creates a chain — any single handoff is a self-contained orientation point, not just an incremental update. The predecessor is whatever handoff this session was opened with — period. Identify it from a positive opening signal:

1. Session was started with /pickup <handoff> — the file passed to /pickup is the predecessor. This is the canonical signal. If /pickup was used, you already know the answer.
2. The PM explicitly named a handoff at session start — e.g., "continue from yesterday's auth handoff." (Combining two predecessors into one handoff requires explicit PM direction at session start — the EM does not collapse the chain on its own.)
3. Neither? Then this handoff has no predecessor. Omit the Continuing from preamble entirely and write a standalone handoff.

"Most recent file in state/handoffs/" is a facile signal — do not use it. Concurrent sessions across machines routinely produce adjacent handoffs that have nothing to do with each other. Adjacency is not ancestry. Picking the most recent timestamp corrupts the audit trail and incorrectly archives active work belonging to other workstreams. If you didn't open this session with a specific handoff, you have no predecessor.

Cascading unresolved items (only when there IS a predecessor): When this session genuinely continues a predecessor, check its ## Recommended Next Steps and ## Carried Forward sections for items this session did NOT complete. Any unresolved items must be carried forward into the new handoff's ## Carried Forward section — they don't disappear just because a session ended. Each carried item retains its origin annotation (e.g., _(carried from 2026-03-20_100000_abc123.md)_) so the full lineage is visible. Items leave the cascade only when: (1) completed by a session (moved to ## What Was Accomplished), or (2) explicitly dismissed by the PM. A session cannot silently drop a carried item.

Chain archival — presume the sweep wins; do NOT run an eager per-session archival. Because the cascade ensures all unresolved obligations flow into the new handoff, the explicit predecessor can be safely archived after a continuation — but that archival is now automatic, not your job. Write the successor, and stop:

• The async sweep archives the predecessor on its own. fleet.archive_completed_handoffs (via sweep-shipped-handoffs.sh, run at /workday-start and session-init) is consumed-terminal and fires on session events — it routinely archives the consumed predecessor in the window before this successor is even written, while the predecessor is still childless. Running a manual archival on top of that is the dead-no-op toil this step used to impose every single continuation (the script would merely re-report not found).
• /update-docs Phase 8 is the residual backstop. For the one case the sweep can't reach — a predecessor pinned by its just-written, not-yet-picked-up successor, whose predecessor: field makes the sweep's handoff-has-live-children.sh guard correctly retain it — pipelines/update-docs/handoff-archival.md archives the predecessor once its successor exists. (The predecessor also unpins for the sweep the moment the successor is itself picked up/consumed.)

<!-- Review: code-reviewer — "nothing leaks permanently" was stated unconditionally; qualify with its precondition and name the known residual. -->

Nothing leaks permanently provided at least one of the three archival paths above eventually fires (an active fleet op, a periodic /update-docs, or the manual fallback block). The known residual: a successor that is never picked up on a fleet running neither a fleet op nor a /update-docs cadence keeps its predecessor pinned indefinitely — there is no reaper for an abandoned ready_to_fire successor.

Fallback only (fleet running neither an active fleet op nor a periodic /update-docs): on such a fleet there is no automatic archiver, and only there do you run the guarded block below. It passes --exclude "$HANDOFF_FILE" so the just-written successor is dropped from the live set before the guard scan — without this exclusion the successor's predecessor: field causes the guard to falsely report "has live children" (D0). The block no-ops cleanly if the predecessor is already gone. Do not sweep other adjacent handoffs in state/handoffs/ — they belong to other workstreams or other sessions.

_cc_root="${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT:-$(cat "${CLAUDE_HOME:-$HOME}/.claude/.doe-root" 2>/dev/null)/coordinator}"
_cc_doe="$(cat "${CLAUDE_HOME:-$HOME}/.claude/.doe-root" 2>/dev/null || true)"
_cc_doe="${_cc_doe%/}"   # trailing-slash normalization: prevents //* false-reject on stale/hand-edited .doe-root
_cc_trusted=0
case "$_cc_root" in
  "${CLAUDE_HOME:-$HOME}/.claude/"*) _cc_trusted=1 ;;
esac
[ -n "$_cc_doe" ] && case "$_cc_root" in "$_cc_doe"/*) _cc_trusted=1 ;; esac
case "$_cc_root" in *"/.."*) _cc_trusted=0 ;; esac   # load-bearing traversal check; dotdot-prefixed name (e.g. ..cache) is accepted false-reject edge
[ "${COORDINATOR_PLUGIN_ROOT_TRUSTED:-}" = 1 ] && _cc_trusted=1   # sanctioned --plugin-dir spike opt-out
[ "$_cc_trusted" = 1 ] || { echo "ERROR: coordinator root '$_cc_root' outside trusted prefix — refusing to source; re-run coordinator:install (or set COORDINATOR_PLUGIN_ROOT_TRUSTED=1 for a sanctioned --plugin-dir spike)" >&2; exit 1; }
[ -d "$_cc_root" ] || { echo "ERROR: coordinator root unresolved — ~/.claude/.doe-root missing/invalid; re-run coordinator:install" >&2; exit 1; }
# Skip cleanly when the async sweep / fleet op already archived the predecessor
# (childless-in-the-pre-successor-window race — the common case on a sweep-active fleet).
if [ -f "<predecessor-path>" ]; then
  bash "${_cc_root}/bin/coordinator-handoff-archive.sh" "<predecessor-path>" --exclude "$HANDOFF_FILE"
else
  echo "chain-archival: predecessor already archived by the async sweep / fleet op — skipping (no-op)" >&2
fi

Negative-spec — no consumed markers written here. Moving the predecessor to archive/handoffs/ is a file move, not a marker operation. The <!-- consumed: YYYY-MM-DD --> marker is /pickup's exclusive responsibility (coordinator/commands/pickup.md:130). This step never writes that marker — to any file, in any circumstance.

Park-with-links on supersession (superseded workstream, not a continuation). When a workstream is superseded rather than continued — a newer plan, spinoff, or roadmap stub now owns the work the old handoff described, and the old handoff should NOT be picked up — do not leave it sitting active/ready_to_fire in state/handoffs/. A superseded handoff left in the active queue strands the next session on a dead workstream. Park it with three links, all in one commit:

1. Relocate out of the active queue — relocation is the load-bearing guard.

   _cc_root="${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT:-$(cat "${CLAUDE_HOME:-$HOME}/.claude/.doe-root" 2>/dev/null)/coordinator}"
   _cc_doe="$(cat "${CLAUDE_HOME:-$HOME}/.claude/.doe-root" 2>/dev/null || true)"
   _cc_doe="${_cc_doe%/}"   # trailing-slash normalization: prevents //* false-reject on stale/hand-edited .doe-root
   _cc_trusted=0
   case "$_cc_root" in
     "${CLAUDE_HOME:-$HOME}/.claude/"*) _cc_trusted=1 ;;
   esac
   [ -n "$_cc_doe" ] && case "$_cc_root" in "$_cc_doe"/*) _cc_trusted=1 ;; esac
   case "$_cc_root" in *"/.."*) _cc_trusted=0 ;; esac   # load-bearing traversal check; dotdot-prefixed name (e.g. ..cache) is accepted false-reject edge
   [ "${COORDINATOR_PLUGIN_ROOT_TRUSTED:-}" = 1 ] && _cc_trusted=1   # sanctioned --plugin-dir spike opt-out
   [ "$_cc_trusted" = 1 ] || { echo "ERROR: coordinator root '$_cc_root' outside trusted prefix — refusing to source; re-run coordinator:install (or set COORDINATOR_PLUGIN_ROOT_TRUSTED=1 for a sanctioned --plugin-dir spike)" >&2; exit 1; }
   [ -d "$_cc_root" ] || { echo "ERROR: coordinator root unresolved — ~/.claude/.doe-root missing/invalid; re-run coordinator:install" >&2; exit 1; }
   bash "${_cc_root}/bin/coordinator-handoff-archive.sh" "state/handoffs/<superseded-file>" --supersede
   

   The script stamps shipped_in: (with --allow-branch-tip-fallback), runs the live-children guard unconditionally, moves the file to archive/handoffs/YYYY-MM/, and sets status: consumed + deployment_state: abandoned — all in one operation. The live-children guard at exit 0 (has-children) or exit 2 (indeterminate/fail-closed) retains the file in state/handoffs/; --supersede does not override it — the successor links in steps 2-3 carry provenance for any in-flight children. <!-- Review: code-reviewer Slice-B — B-F2: live-children guard retain behaviour under --supersede was implicit; now explicit to match the --exclude path at ~:212 --> deployment_state: abandoned keeps the parked handoff out of every active list (/workday-start, bin/query-records, the session-init orphan sweep) regardless of status; consumed + abandoned is the faithful replacement for the retired superseded value. Do this for the shipped-but-superseded case too — deployment_state: abandoned applies whenever the workstream's ownership moved elsewhere, shipped or not. Do NOT set a superseded_by: frontmatter field — the handoff schema (schemas/handoff.schema.json) declares no such field (the supersedes/superseded_by cross-field rule in bin/lib/schema.js CROSS_FIELD_RULES exists only for cross-repo-memo, never for handoffs). Provenance lives in the body links (step 2), which are schema-free and correct. If symmetry with plan.yaml/decision.yaml is wanted, a superseded_by: handoff field is a SEPARATE schema change (handoff.yaml optional block + a schema.js cross-field rule) and must not be smuggled in via this plan — it is an improvement-queue candidate.

2. Bidirectional canonical link (schema-free body prose). In the superseded handoff body, add a one-line **Superseded by:** <successor-path-or-roadmap-stub-id>. In the successor (handoff, plan, or stub body), add **Supersedes:** <superseded-handoff-path>. The pair makes the provenance trail navigable from either end. This body-prose link pair — NOT any frontmatter field — is the canonical supersession-provenance mechanism for handoffs.

3. README / index provenance. If the repo carries a handoff index or docs/README.md row referencing the superseded workstream, repoint it at the successor (per CLAUDE.md "Stale doc references: repoint when covered").

This is distinct from chain-archival (above): chain-archival moves the explicit predecessor of a continuation; park-with-links handles a superseded workstream that has no continuation in this session but whose ownership moved elsewhere. Supersession is a PM-or-roadmap event, not an EM unilateral call on adjacent handoffs — do not park another session's handoff as status: consumed + deployment_state: abandoned (the replacement for the retired superseded value) without the explicit successor link (steps 2–3 above).

<!-- Review: code-reviewer Slice-B — (F1) reframed "park as superseded" to the new write-form after status:superseded retirement; (F2) removed phantom CLAUDE.md citation, restated rule self-contained with reference to steps 2–3 -->

Step 1.5: Refresh Handoff Tracker

After chain-archival above, regenerate state/handoff-tracker.md so the durable tracker reflects the current queue state before the commit lands.

_cc_root="${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT:-$(cat "${CLAUDE_HOME:-$HOME}/.claude/.doe-root" 2>/dev/null)/coordinator}"
_cc_doe="$(cat "${CLAUDE_HOME:-$HOME}/.claude/.doe-root" 2>/dev/null || true)"
_cc_doe="${_cc_doe%/}"   # trailing-slash normalization: prevents //* false-reject on stale/hand-edited .doe-root
_cc_trusted=0
case "$_cc_root" in
  "${CLAUDE_HOME:-$HOME}/.claude/"*) _cc_trusted=1 ;;
esac
[ -n "$_cc_doe" ] && case "$_cc_root" in "$_cc_doe"/*) _cc_trusted=1 ;; esac
case "$_cc_root" in *"/.."*) _cc_trusted=0 ;; esac   # load-bearing traversal check; dotdot-prefixed name (e.g. ..cache) is accepted false-reject edge
[ "${COORDINATOR_PLUGIN_ROOT_TRUSTED:-}" = 1 ] && _cc_trusted=1   # sanctioned --plugin-dir spike opt-out
[ "$_cc_trusted" = 1 ] || { echo "ERROR: coordinator root '$_cc_root' outside trusted prefix — refusing to source; re-run coordinator:install (or set COORDINATOR_PLUGIN_ROOT_TRUSTED=1 for a sanctioned --plugin-dir spike)" >&2; exit 1; }
[ -d "$_cc_root" ] || { echo "ERROR: coordinator root unresolved — ~/.claude/.doe-root missing/invalid; re-run coordinator:install" >&2; exit 1; }
node "${_cc_root}/bin/render-handoff-tracker.js"

If the script is absent or exits non-zero, skip silently. The generated file is staged with the handoff's scoped commit at Step 3 — no separate commit.

Step 2: Capture Lessons

Follow /workstream-complete Step 1 (Capture Lessons) — same intake filter, same format requirements, same merge-over-add rules. Skip if compaction is imminent — the handoff file is the priority.

Step 2.6: Update Plan Documentation

Follow /workstream-complete Step 2 (Update Plan Documentation) — including the active search across all plan locations (tasks/<feature>/, tasks/plans/, docs/plans/, ~/.claude/plans/). Mark completed items, update status fields, add completion notes. Don't skip this because you don't recall opening a plan — search for one. Skip only if no plan docs exist for this session's work area.

Step 2.7: Archive Uncaptured Work

Follow /workstream-complete Step 2.6 (Archive Uncaptured Work) — sweep session commits for completed work not yet in the project tracker or completion archive. Skip if the project hasn't adopted unified tracking (archive/ and docs/project-tracker.md don't exist).

Step 2.8: Build/Test Awareness

If the project uses a compiled language with a running IDE or editor (e.g., Unreal Engine, Unity, Xcode):

• Do NOT run builds or test suites during handoff — they conflict with running editors and concurrent agents
• Instead, note in the handoff's "Current State" section whether changes need a rebuild, and what tests should be run next session

Step 2.9: Refresh Orientation Documents

Update the documents that future sessions read for orientation — closing the read-write loop with /workstream-start and /workday-start. Skip if compaction is imminent — the handoff file is the priority; orientation docs are best-effort.

1. Orientation cache (state/orientation_cache.md): Do not author the cache body. Do not patch sections. /handoff is a mid-session writer with a single, narrowly-scoped capability: pinboard append (one line, overwrite-or-omit). The cache schema (pipelines/workday-start-internals.md § 5.5) is owned by ceremony writers (/workday-start, /update-docs).

   Pinboard rule: if the picker-upper of this handoff MUST see a piece of context that won't be obvious from the handoff body or from a fresh ceremony regen (a transient surface gotcha; a known-trap environment caveat; an in-flight investigation that hasn't crystallised into the handoff body yet), write one line via:

   _cc_root="${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT:-$(cat "${CLAUDE_HOME:-$HOME}/.claude/.doe-root" 2>/dev/null)/coordinator}"
   _cc_doe="$(cat "${CLAUDE_HOME:-$HOME}/.claude/.doe-root" 2>/dev/null || true)"
   _cc_doe="${_cc_doe%/}"   # trailing-slash normalization: prevents //* false-reject on stale/hand-edited .doe-root
   _cc_trusted=0
   case "$_cc_root" in
     "${CLAUDE_HOME:-$HOME}/.claude/"*) _cc_trusted=1 ;;
   esac
   [ -n "$_cc_doe" ] && case "$_cc_root" in "$_cc_doe"/*) _cc_trusted=1 ;; esac
   case "$_cc_root" in *"/.."*) _cc_trusted=0 ;; esac   # load-bearing traversal check; dotdot-prefixed name (e.g. ..cache) is accepted false-reject edge
   [ "${COORDINATOR_PLUGIN_ROOT_TRUSTED:-}" = 1 ] && _cc_trusted=1   # sanctioned --plugin-dir spike opt-out
   [ "$_cc_trusted" = 1 ] || { echo "ERROR: coordinator root '$_cc_root' outside trusted prefix — refusing to source; re-run coordinator:install (or set COORDINATOR_PLUGIN_ROOT_TRUSTED=1 for a sanctioned --plugin-dir spike)" >&2; exit 1; }
   [ -d "$_cc_root" ] || { echo "ERROR: coordinator root unresolved — ~/.claude/.doe-root missing/invalid; re-run coordinator:install" >&2; exit 1; }
   bash "${_cc_root}/bin/regenerate-orientation-cache.sh" \
       --invoker handoff \
       --pinboard "YYYY-MM-DD <writer-slug>: <one-line note>"
   

   Otherwise do nothing — the handoff body is where pickup-state lives, not the cache. The pinboard is cleared at the next ceremony regen. Skip if cache doesn't exist.

2. Project tracker (docs/project-tracker.md): If it exists and this session completed or progressed tracked items, update their status rows.

3. Action items (first match: ACTION-ITEMS.md, docs/active/ACTION-ITEMS.md, docs/ACTION-ITEMS.md): If one exists and this session resolved any listed items, check them off.

Same guidance as /workstream-complete Step 2.7 — targeted patches to what this session touched, not regeneration. Concurrency-safe.

Step 2.10: Code Review Consideration

Follow /workstream-complete Step 2.9 (Code Review Consideration) — same diff-shape table, same precedence rule, same anti-ceremony-bias and symmetric anti-ceremony tripwires, same dispatch via coordinator:review-code Branch A.2, same trail-marker write via coordinator-write-review-trail.sh.

Gate alignment: This step fires ONLY when /handoff Step 0's YES-test gate has passed and the skill is actually writing a handoff. If Step 0's NO-test trips and the session is redirected to /workstream-complete or commit-and-stop, the review consideration belongs to that downstream surface, not here. Do not double-review.

Additional handoff-specific behavior: when this step writes a trail record, ALSO mirror the marker into the handoff frontmatter as:

reviewed_at_workstream_complete: <sha-range> <reviewer> <YYYY-MM-DD>

Use the same <sha-range>, <reviewer>, and date as the trail record (per the optional schema field added in schemas/handoff.schema.json). Add this field to the frontmatter block written in Step 1.

Edge case (PM-flagged): when /handoff is written because the EM is bailing on a workstream they don't want to finish, the successor benefits from a code-reviewer pass on what landed. Treat the bailing case the same as any other non-trivial handoff — the diff-shape table determines the scale.

Staging discipline: any files edited by coordinator:review-integrator during this step must be staged via explicit path in Step 3, not absorbed by a post-integration git add -A.

<!-- mandatory-commit-shape -->

Mandatory commit shape (concurrent-EM safe). Plain explicit-path git is the default per SC-DR-008; the helper is reserved for sweep ceremonies + the executor's branch-pin path. Use ONE of:

# Default — explicit-path commit (SC-DR-008 baseline):
git add -- <paths> && git commit -m "<subject>" -- <paths>

# OR, for handoff-scoped sessions, the helper (defaults to em-only as of 2026-06-15):
coordinator-safe-commit --scope-from <handoff> "<subject>"

Plain-git is listed first deliberately — the helper is the carve-out, not the primary path. Never git add -A / git add . / git add --all — the block-blanket-git-add.sh PreToolUse hook enforces this; see docs/wiki/coordinator-tripwires.md § BLOCK-BLANKET-GIT-ADD and docs/wiki/scoped-safety-commits.md § SC-DR-014.

Step 2.95: Pre-terminate dirty-tree gate

Pre-terminate dirty-tree gate (fail loud on unattributable files). Run bash "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT:-$(cat "${CLAUDE_HOME:-$HOME}/.claude/.doe-root" 2>/dev/null)/coordinator}/bin/dirty-tree-gate.sh" --terminator handoff before the handoff commit; on non-zero exit it lists unattributable (case-c) paths — disposition each per below:

• (c) Unattributable — a dirty file you did NOT author AND cannot tie to a named concurrent owner (the classic case: an abandoned partial revert or orphaned edit from a crashed session). Do NOT silently leave these — they wedge the next session opener. Fail loud and pick exactly one disposition, in this order of preference:
  1. Commit with provenance if the change is coherent and you can attribute it: git add -- <path> && git commit -m "chore: adopt orphaned WT change <path> — unattributed at handoff".
  2. Stash-with-provenance if it is incoherent or risky to commit: git stash push -u -m "orphaned-WT <YYYY-MM-DD> handoff: <path> — left by unknown session" -- <path>. Name the stash so the next session can find and adjudicate it (per CLAUDE.md "Probe edits in git stash push -u / pop").
  3. Explicit "leave it owned by X" only when you can now name the owner — record a one-line note (in the handoff body / session summary) stating which session/workstream owns it, converting it from case (c) to case (b).

The forbidden outcome is terminating with case-(c) files still dirty and unnamed. Orphan .tmp.<pid>.<nanos> files are a special case (Edit-tool atomic-write crash, per CLAUDE.md § Verifying Executor Output) — diff against target before deleting; do not stash them blind.

Dirty-tree gate extracted to bin/dirty-tree-gate.sh (shared across wsc+handoff) — see docs/plans/2026-06-30-session-terminator-mechanism-unification.md.

Step 3: Commit + Verify Remote

Pre-flight: verify shipped claims. For each commit referenced in this handoff's ## What Was Accomplished as completed/shipped, run check-shipped-on-main.sh <sha>. If any commit is NOT on origin/main:

1. Append a ## Not Yet On Main section to the handoff body listing each unmerged commit with {sha} — {subject}.
2. Replace any "shipped" / "landed" / "in production" wording in ## What Was Accomplished with "complete on branch, not yet merged."
3. Do not block the handoff — write the truth and continue.

Now that the handoff is written, commit everything and verify remote sync.

Workstream scope is declared in the handoff scope: block (written above this step). With concurrent EMs active on the same branch, git add -A would sweep up another session's staged/modified files and silently re-attribute them — the scope: block is the workstream-anchored authority on which paths belong to this commit. If git status shows unfamiliar unstaged files you didn't touch, leave them alone — but first run the Step 2.95 dirty-tree gate; "leave alone" is correct ONLY for case (b) named-owner files.

Pending-release completion-entry reconcile (pre-stage): Before staging, run reconcile-completion-commits.sh --append on any pending-release completion entry this session authored. This catches post-entry commits that landed from Step 2.7 (handoff archive move), Step 2.9 (review-integration), and any other session work after the entry was written. Include the amended entry's path in the staged paths alongside the handoff (add it to the scope: stage command, or stage it explicitly before the commit). <!-- Review: code-reviewer Slice-C — F5: moved from Step 1 chain-archival to Step 3 pre-stage; now correctly catches Step 2.7/2.9 commits that don't exist when Step 1 runs -->

1. Commit using explicit-path plain git — read the scope: block from the handoff frontmatter and stage only those paths (lessons.md:43, lessons.md:207, SC-DR-008; no fallback to staging-all):

   _cc_root="${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT:-$(cat "${CLAUDE_HOME:-$HOME}/.claude/.doe-root" 2>/dev/null)/coordinator}"
   _cc_doe="$(cat "${CLAUDE_HOME:-$HOME}/.claude/.doe-root" 2>/dev/null || true)"
   _cc_doe="${_cc_doe%/}"   # trailing-slash normalization: prevents //* false-reject on stale/hand-edited .doe-root
   _cc_trusted=0
   case "$_cc_root" in
     "${CLAUDE_HOME:-$HOME}/.claude/"*) _cc_trusted=1 ;;
   esac
   [ -n "$_cc_doe" ] && case "$_cc_root" in "$_cc_doe"/*) _cc_trusted=1 ;; esac
   case "$_cc_root" in *"/.."*) _cc_trusted=0 ;; esac   # load-bearing traversal check; dotdot-prefixed name (e.g. ..cache) is accepted false-reject edge
   [ "${COORDINATOR_PLUGIN_ROOT_TRUSTED:-}" = 1 ] && _cc_trusted=1   # sanctioned --plugin-dir spike opt-out
   [ "$_cc_trusted" = 1 ] || { echo "ERROR: coordinator root '$_cc_root' outside trusted prefix — refusing to source; re-run coordinator:install (or set COORDINATOR_PLUGIN_ROOT_TRUSTED=1 for a sanctioned --plugin-dir spike)" >&2; exit 1; }
   [ -d "$_cc_root" ] || { echo "ERROR: coordinator root unresolved — ~/.claude/.doe-root missing/invalid; re-run coordinator:install" >&2; exit 1; }
   HANDOFF=<handoff-doc-path>
   # Extract scope paths. The script exits 1 + stderr on a missing/empty scope: block;
   # the `|| exit 1` propagates that (command substitution otherwise swallows the exit code).
   SCOPE=$(bash "${_cc_root}/bin/extract-scope-paths.sh" "$HANDOFF") || { echo "FAIL: scope: block missing or empty in $HANDOFF — cannot enumerate paths" >&2; exit 1; }
   git add -- $SCOPE && git commit -m "handoff quick-save: <workstream>" -- $SCOPE
   

   where <workstream> is the slug from the handoff doc's workstream: frontmatter field (e.g., handoff quick-save: scoped-safety-commits). The scope: block lists git pathspec entries — keeping concurrent sessions isolated. The pathspec format follows standard git pathspec syntax (e.g., path/to/file.md, dir/with/files/**). If scope: is missing or empty: FAIL and exit non-zero — no fallback.
2. Pushing: The post-commit hook handles pushing to branch automatically. Do NOT manually push. Just commit — the hook does the rest. If on main (shouldn't happen, but safety): do NOT push. Commits on main stay local until merged via PR.
3. Verify remote is synced: confirm no unpushed commits remain (git log "origin/$(coordinator-current-branch)..HEAD"). If auto-push failed, push explicitly and warn the PM.

Step 3.5: Archive Session Claim

Now that the final commit has landed and pushed, archive this session's claim directory so concurrent sessions don't see stale claims accumulating until the 24h reaper fires. Session claims are consumed by the helper's --blanket sweep ceremonies (workstream-start, update-docs, relay-protocol, distillation) and the --expected-branch gate in agents/executor.md — those are the post-SC-DR-008 paths that still touch the claims directory. Without archival, dead-PID claims accumulate and force concurrent sweep ceremonies to either wait 24h, set COORDINATOR_OVERRIDE_SCOPE=1 (which masks the gap), or manually cs_archive each defunct session by hand.

Plan-claim release (best-effort, PAUSE exit). Unlike workstream-complete, /handoff has no governing-plan predicate that reliably resolves a single plan slug — the handoff may checkpoint pure-code work, multiple plans, or no plan at all. There is no existing step or variable in this skill that identifies "the plan being checkpointed." Consequently the release is best-effort, reaper-backed: if the EM can identify the plan slug from context (e.g., the handoff was written explicitly to checkpoint execution of a named plan), call cs_release_artifact plan <slug> (no repo-root arg) before cs_archive below; if no slug is determinable, omit the release call and rely on the 30-min idle reaper + inline stale-takeover as the backstop.

When the slug IS determinable:

_cc_root="${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT:-$(cat "${CLAUDE_HOME:-$HOME}/.claude/.doe-root" 2>/dev/null)/coordinator}"
_cc_doe="$(cat "${CLAUDE_HOME:-$HOME}/.claude/.doe-root" 2>/dev/null || true)"
_cc_doe="${_cc_doe%/}"   # trailing-slash normalization: prevents //* false-reject on stale/hand-edited .doe-root
_cc_trusted=0
case "$_cc_root" in
  "${CLAUDE_HOME:-$HOME}/.claude/"*) _cc_trusted=1 ;;
esac
[ -n "$_cc_doe" ] && case "$_cc_root" in "$_cc_doe"/*) _cc_trusted=1 ;; esac
case "$_cc_root" in *"/.."*) _cc_trusted=0 ;; esac   # load-bearing traversal check; dotdot-prefixed name (e.g. ..cache) is accepted false-reject edge
[ "${COORDINATOR_PLUGIN_ROOT_TRUSTED:-}" = 1 ] && _cc_trusted=1   # sanctioned --plugin-dir spike opt-out
[ "$_cc_trusted" = 1 ] || { echo "ERROR: coordinator root '$_cc_root' outside trusted prefix — refusing to source; re-run coordinator:install (or set COORDINATOR_PLUGIN_ROOT_TRUSTED=1 for a sanctioned --plugin-dir spike)" >&2; exit 1; }
[ -d "$_cc_root" ] || { echo "ERROR: coordinator root unresolved — ~/.claude/.doe-root missing/invalid; re-run coordinator:install" >&2; exit 1; }
# Best-effort plan-claim release on PAUSE exit (C5 — cs_claim_plan lock).
# Only call when a governing plan slug is known from context; omit otherwise (reaper-backed).
# ORDERING CONTRACT: cs_release_artifact's header (~:1175-1179) requires frontmatter revert
# before release for stamp-bearing artifact classes. The plan class carries NO frontmatter stamp
# (design decision D1 — full atomic-mkdir lock, not a frontmatter stamp); the ordering contract
# precondition is therefore VACUOUS for plan — call cs_release_artifact plan directly.
source "${_cc_root}/lib/coordinator-session.sh" 2>/dev/null && \
  cs_release_artifact plan "<slug>" 2>/dev/null || true

Replace <slug> with the basename of the plan file minus .md (e.g. 2026-06-26-cs-claim-plan-execution-lock). cs_release_artifact is holder-identity-checked and no-ops silently if this session does not hold the claim — safe to call even if uncertain whether cs_claim_plan was called upstream in this session.

Run:

_cc_root="${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT:-$(cat "${CLAUDE_HOME:-$HOME}/.claude/.doe-root" 2>/dev/null)/coordinator}"
_cc_doe="$(cat "${CLAUDE_HOME:-$HOME}/.claude/.doe-root" 2>/dev/null || true)"
_cc_doe="${_cc_doe%/}"   # trailing-slash normalization: prevents //* false-reject on stale/hand-edited .doe-root
_cc_trusted=0
case "$_cc_root" in
  "${CLAUDE_HOME:-$HOME}/.claude/"*) _cc_trusted=1 ;;
esac
[ -n "$_cc_doe" ] && case "$_cc_root" in "$_cc_doe"/*) _cc_trusted=1 ;; esac
case "$_cc_root" in *"/.."*) _cc_trusted=0 ;; esac   # load-bearing traversal check; dotdot-prefixed name (e.g. ..cache) is accepted false-reject edge
[ "${COORDINATOR_PLUGIN_ROOT_TRUSTED:-}" = 1 ] && _cc_trusted=1   # sanctioned --plugin-dir spike opt-out
[ "$_cc_trusted" = 1 ] || { echo "ERROR: coordinator root '$_cc_root' outside trusted prefix — refusing to source; re-run coordinator:install (or set COORDINATOR_PLUGIN_ROOT_TRUSTED=1 for a sanctioned --plugin-dir spike)" >&2; exit 1; }
[ -d "$_cc_root" ] || { echo "ERROR: coordinator root unresolved — ~/.claude/.doe-root missing/invalid; re-run coordinator:install" >&2; exit 1; }
source "${_cc_root}/lib/coordinator-session.sh" 2>/dev/null && \
  sid="$(cs_resolve_session_id)" && \
  cs_archive "$sid" 2>/dev/null || true

Idempotent — already-archived sessions return 0 silently. Failures are non-fatal (the 24h reaper is the safety net). Skip silently if the session id can't be resolved or the lib is unavailable.

Note on session_id source: session-id resolves via cs_resolve_session_id (4-tier: COORDINATOR_SESSION_ID → CLAUDE_SESSION_ID → CLAUDE_CODE_SESSION_ID → sentinel).

Step 4: Confirm

Remind the user:

• "Handoff saved to state/handoffs/. Pick up with /pickup (relay-race resumption) or /workstream-start (general orientation)."
• "Run /update-docs if you want repo-wide documentation maintenance (directory sync, handoff archiving to archive/handoffs/)."

Verify .gitignore: Quickly check that tasks/ is NOT gitignored. If it is, warn the user — handoffs in a gitignored directory will be invisible to other sessions and lost on clone.

Notes

• A Claude Code restart is a session boundary, not a step within a session. If your workflow needs an MCP-bridge restart, a runtime artifact rebuild, or a /reload-plugins between code-edit and verification, run /handoff BEFORE the restart, not after. Splitting code+build from runtime-verify across two sessions is cleaner than trying to span the restart — context is lost in the gap, and the post-restart session that picks up has no context unless a handoff exists. Symptom that you should have handed off: you find yourself saying "let me just wait through this restart and then verify" — stop, hand off, the next session verifies.
• Each session writes a NEW file with a unique timestamp — never overwrite other sessions' handoffs
• Keep it concise — aim for under 50 lines. The next session will also have MEMORY.md and project context.
• Focus on state that MEMORY.md doesn't capture: in-progress work, blockers, uncommitted changes
• If the user provides arguments (e.g., /handoff focus on auth refactor), incorporate that context
• Cross-repo communication is not a handoff use-case. Telling another repo's EM something routes through the PM as relay (copy-paste in chat, or use cross-repo-memo --to <receiver-em> --topic <slug> for structured briefs). See docs/wiki/cross-repo-communication.md.
• Cleanup: During /handoff, archive the predecessor after carrying forward its unresolved items. General handoff archiving (48-hour sweep) is handled by /update-docs — no broader sweep here.
• Active vs archived: Active handoffs live in state/handoffs/ (available for pickup). Archived handoffs live in archive/handoffs/ (paper trail). Both are git-tracked.
• User context: If $ARGUMENTS is provided (e.g., /handoff focus on auth refactor), incorporate that context into the handoff's "In-Progress Work" and "Recommended Next Steps" sections.

Crash-Rescue Checklist

When writing a recovery handoff after a crash or unclean termination:

Sweep all live handoffs for gate/state invalidation. Do not only author the new rescue handoff. For each existing handoff in state/handoffs/ with deployment_state in {ready_to_fire, in_flight, awaiting_gate}, re-verify the gate predicate and stated substrate against current HEAD. Update frontmatter or add a comment block for any entry whose gate has cleared, whose substrate has changed, or whose stated in-progress state is now inconsistent with the branch.

Enumerate dirty/untracked files AND git reflog across all sibling repos under the same machine. Cross-repo concurrent crashes leave fragments in N repos; stopping at the most-recent handoff misses N-1 crash sites. For each sibling repo in the central state repo-registry ($(coordinator_state_root --central)/repo-registry.md; central state lives in example-orchestration-hub — see docs/wiki/state-placement-law.md) that shares stack_tags or was in-flight this session, run git status and git reflog --since="2 hours ago" to surface uncommitted fragments.