Leader developer handoff contract

Leader → Developer Handoff Contract

When to invoke

• About to dispatch a sub-agent (Developer / Designer / Code Reviewer / drafting agent).
• Writing the dispatch prompt.
• User asks "what should the sub-agent dispatch include / which elements am I missing".

The 5 required elements

Every dispatch prompt must contain:

1. Task scope with verifiable target

• One sentence stating the goal.
• Explicitly name the output file / section / behaviour.
• Include a mechanically checkable success / failure condition.

Good: "Draft §5 Logger for docs/foundations.md; output format: complete markdown section; scope: adopt os.Logger defaults, with subsystem / category conventions and privacy default"

Bad: "Write something about logger"

2. Files / docs the sub-agent should read

• List file names + sections.
• Don't say "read design.md"; say "read design.md §How.2, foundations.md §3-§4".
• Add grep targets / line ranges when useful to save the sub-agent's exploration tokens.

3. Explicit skill list to invoke

• List the skill names the sub-agent should invoke (with plugin prefix).
• Don't assume the sub-agent will guess.
• Example: "invoke swift6-concurrency, swiftpm-modularization, swift-testing-baseline; review-style dispatches also list subagent-review-cycles".

4. Expected return format

Pick one explicitly (or custom):

• Code diff (patch / full-file rewrite)
• Markdown section (drop into a specified file's §)
• Decision text (structured ACCEPT/REJECT/DEFER list)
• Finding list (BLOCKER / MAJOR / MINOR)

Bad: "Report results" Good: "Return the complete §5 content as markdown, ready for the Leader to paste into foundations.md; no chit-chat"

5. Verification criteria

• The conditions under which it counts as done.
• For Developer: which tests must be green, which invariants must hold.
• For Code Reviewer: review dimensions, forbidden tools (CLI), allowed tools (WebSearch).
• For drafting agent: section structure, required subsections, required decisions.

Template

You are a <role> dispatched by the Leader.

## Task scope
<verifiable target, output file/section, success condition>

## Inputs (read these in order)
1. <path> §<section>
2. <path>
<...>

## Skills to invoke
- <skill-name-1>
- <skill-name-2>
<...>

## Return format
<one of: code diff / markdown section / decision text / finding list>
<exact shape>

## Verification criteria
- <criterion 1>
- <criterion 2>
<...>

## Constraints (optional)
- DO NOT <forbidden action>
- DO use <required tool / approach>

Examples drawn from real dispatches

Developer drafting design.md §How.3 (Game Center)

• Scope: draft design.md §How.3 GC integration section, covering leaderboard / achievement / protocol / auth fallback / friends scope
• Inputs: design.md §What.GC, foundations.md §1-§4
• Skills: swift6-concurrency, swiftpm-modularization, swift-testing-baseline
• Return: complete markdown section, ready to merge into design.md
• Verification: includes 3 leaderboards + 10 achievements, protocol covers friends scope, auth failure has a fallback path

Code Reviewer round 1 over §How 1–7

• Scope: review design.md §How.1 – §How.7 for technical correctness
• Inputs: full design.md, foundations.md
• Skills: subagent-review-cycles
• Return: BLOCKER / MAJOR / MINOR finding list; each item with section location + suggestion
• Verification: covers 4 dimensions (correctness / consistency / completeness / efficiency); cites Apple docs instead of CLI experimentation
• Constraints: DO NOT run CLI; DO use WebSearch

Anti-patterns

• Omitting verification criteria: the sub-agent self-judges "done", often misaligned with the Leader's expectation.
• Listing "related skills" instead of "skills to invoke": the sub-agent may not actually trigger them.
• Return format written as "free-form": every round looks different and integration cost balloons.
• Scope too large (multiple sections / files in one round): review and revision cost explodes; split fine.

Verification checklist (for Leader before sending dispatch)

• All 5 elements present (scope / inputs / skills / return format / verification).
• Scope corresponds to "one verifiable target", not "a basket of work".
• Skill names spelled correctly, with plugin prefix.
• Return format is one of the four explicit categories.
• Verification conditions are mechanically checkable.

Related skills

• subagent-review-cycles: handoff is the starting point of each review-cycle round.
• spec-phase-orchestration: every sub-agent dispatch in the spec phase follows this contract.
• session-to-meeting-log: dispatch + returned-result summary lands in the meeting log.