Handoff protocol

Skill IrfanSadiqRahat/constellation/methodology/handoff-protocol

Pass typed artifacts between roles with explicit contracts. The connective tissue of multi-agent pipelines.From its SKILL.md

Install

npx -y skills add IrfanSadiqRahat/constellation --skill handoff-protocol

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SKILL.md

1.9 KB, 409 tokens by cl100k_base, as published. Nobody here has run it

handoff-protocol

When activated

A role has produced an artifact and the next role needs to pick it up. Don't paste the whole conversation. Don't summarize verbally. Use the protocol.

The deliverable: `HandoffPacket`

artifact_id: <unique>
artifact_type: <PRD | DesignBrief | BackendArchitecture | ...>
produced_by: <role>
produced_at: <iso ts>
upstream_chain: [<artifact_id>, ...]      # what this depends on
content: <link to artifact file>
schema_version: <semver>
status: ready | provisional | blocked
open_decisions: [<decision needed before downstream can start>]
constraints_carried_forward: [<from upstream>]
test_coverage: <link to tests/evals if applicable>
review_state: { spec_pass: bool, quality_pass: bool, by: <role> }
next_role: <consumer agent id>
next_step: <what the consumer should do first>

Operating principles

Artifacts have IDs, not just types. Same type can flow many times.
Upstream chain is captured. Traceability for "why was this decision made?"
Open decisions surfaced explicitly. Don't bury them in prose.
Constraints carry forward. If PRD said "must be GDPR-compliant", the BackendArchitecture handoff includes that.
Status is honest. provisional lets downstream start without committing.
next_step is explicit. Don't make the consumer guess.

Why this exists

Multi-agent systems fail when handoffs are conversational. Constellation's typed contracts only work if the handoff packet itself is typed. This skill enforces it.

Storage

Handoff packets live in .constellation/handoffs/<timestamp>-<artifact_id>.yaml. The team workspace is a chain of these. Auditable, replayable, forkable.

What ships with it

Read from the repository

Just SKILL.md. No reference files, no scripts.