SKILL.md

metadata

name: handoff-protocol
description: >-
  Apply a portable multi-agent handoff and persistence protocol: choose bounded
  subagents versus resumable independent tasks, dispatch four-part packets,
  require evidence-backed return and closure receipts, verify durable writes
  from the authoritative root, serialize central-board updates, and degrade
  honestly when host adapters are unavailable. Use when delegating, handing work
  between agents, preserving delegated work in memory/logs/boards, or reviewing
  delegated results. 多 agent 派活、交接、持久化与回包复核时触发。

English | 简体中文

Handoff Protocol

Use this Skill to prepare, route, receive, persist, and verify delegated work. It defines portable contracts; it does not bundle an agent registry, spawn/task/message runtime, inbox, workspace resolver, or atomic log writer.

Apply the rule pack

1. Read references/rule-pack.md before dispatching or closing work. Select bounded_subagent for a contained result returned to the parent; select independent_task only when the recipient needs a separately resumable task/thread. Treat execution mode and persistence as separate choices: either mode may carry required durable closeout.
2. Discover host capabilities through references/adapter-contracts.md. Prefer agent.task.create for independent_task; do not simulate it with a nested child unless the packet explicitly allows degradation.
3. Validate packets and receipts against contracts/. Treat an omitted execution_mode as bounded_subagent for v1.2 compatibility.
4. For durable work, resolve the authoritative root before writing, attach the four-target persistence contract, bind packet/contract/dispatch/return/ closure/verification with handoff_id, contract_id, and dispatch_id, give every required target a fresh parent-issued evidence_nonce, and derive its evidence_anchor with the real dispatch_id. Return one closure receipt per target. Let the parent or named single writer serialize central-board changes.
5. Re-read every required artifact from the resolved authoritative root before claiming completion, and require the real file/provider event to contain the nonce-and-dispatch-bound evidence_anchor. A child message, relabelled stale receipt, prior-dispatch artifact, overlay write, or worktree-local file is not proof that this task's artifact landed.
6. If an adapter is absent or exits nonzero, report the failure and follow the documented degradation path. Never claim a dispatch, follow-up, delivery, atomic append, or verification without provider or readback evidence.
7. Keep external routing, safety, and data policy authoritative. This Skill consumes those policies; it does not redefine them.

First success

A successful bounded use produces a four-field dispatch packet, a real host receipt, a four-field return packet, and a parent verification trace. If either mode has a persistence contract, it additionally produces four closure receipts and four parent readbacks. Only independent_task adds a separately resumable task/thread and authoritative-workspace receipt; durable file writes alone never supply that status. With no delivery adapter, success is an explicitly undelivered copyable packet, not a simulated child result.

Contracts and evidence

• Rules: references/rule-pack.md.
• Adapter ports and degradation behavior: references/adapter-contracts.md.
• Machine-checkable packet, persistence, dispatch, closure, return, and parent verification Schemas: contracts/.
• Deterministic mock/failure evaluations: evals/.

Install the whole Skill directory. A lone SKILL.md is an incomplete installation because the required references and Schemas will be missing. If any linked file is absent, stop and report invalid_install; do not improvise the missing contract.

The execution model remains documentation discipline. Adapter capabilities are external dependencies, not bundled runtime features.

Version & update self-check

• Current version: 1.3.0 (matches .claude-plugin/plugin.json).
• Repository: https://github.com/LucioLiu/handoff-protocol
• Self-check: for plugin installs, follow the host update mechanism. For manual installs, compare the entire Skill directory with the repository; never update only this file.

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Both language editions are maintained in sync. If they ever diverge, the English edition is authoritative — please open an issue if you spot one.