# Handoff skill Human Guide

## What This Is For
Hand off the current task to another agent with full context. It gives the agent a clearer input/output frame for search and SEO workflows: what context to ask for, what decisions to make, and what usable artifact to return.

Use this as a human-readable version of the Handoff skill agent skill. It is meant for marketers, operators, founders, and other non-coders who want the workflow without reading agent-specific implementation instructions.

## When To Use This
- Use this when you need a repeatable process for handoff skill.
- Use this when the task needs judgment, examples, constraints, or a clear output format rather than a one-off prompt.
- Use this when you want to hand an AI assistant enough context to produce a usable marketing artifact.

## When Not To Use This
- Do not use this when you only need a quick factual answer.
- Do not use this when the work depends on private data you cannot share with the assistant.
- Do not use this as a replacement for legal, compliance, financial, or medical review.

## What You Need Before Starting
- The goal or business outcome you want.
- The audience, customer segment, or market context.
- Any source material the assistant should respect, such as notes, briefs, examples, URLs, or brand guidance.
- Constraints such as tone, length, channel, deadline, region, or approval requirements.
- A clear definition of what a good final answer should look like.

## Step-By-Step Workflow
1. State the job clearly: "Use the Handoff skill guide to help me with..."
2. Add context: audience, goal, offer, channel, source material, and constraints.
3. Ask the assistant to identify missing inputs before producing the final output.
4. Have the assistant follow the skill-specific guidance below.
5. Review the result against the final checklist and ask for revisions where needed.

## Skill-Specific Guidance
- **Isolation** — "in a worktree" / "worktree" → create a workspace with `isolation: "worktree"`, using a short branch name derived from the task.
- **Task description** — anything else the user said.
- Select the current workspace or call `create_workspace` with the requested isolation.
- Call `create_agent` with a `[Handoff] <task>` title, the briefing as initial prompt, and the selected `workspaceId` when explicit placement is needed.
- Return the agent and workspace to the user, explaining that it remains in your subagent track until they detach it manually.

## Decision Points And Nuance
The original skill emphasizes: Prerequisites, Parsing arguments, The handoff prompt, Task, Context, Relevant files, Current state, What was tried, Decisions, Acceptance criteria.

Use these questions to steer the work:
- What is the intended audience or buyer?
- What source material must be preserved?
- What should the assistant optimize for: clarity, persuasion, accuracy, speed, creativity, or conversion?
- What examples represent the desired quality bar?
- What should the assistant avoid?

## Common Mistakes
- Transfer the current task — context, decisions, failed attempts, constraints — to a fresh agent. The receiving agent starts with **zero context**, so the handoff prompt must be a self-contained briefing.
- Read the **paseo** skill. Call `list_profiles` before choosing the receiving agent. Do not create it until you have read the configured profiles and their `notes`.
- [Why this task exists, required context.]
- [Must-not / must-preserve]
- **Preserve task semantics.** Investigate-only → "DO NOT edit files." Fix → "implement the fix." Refactor → "refactor, not rewrite." Carry the user's exact intent.
- Do not encode independence as a create mode and do not invoke CLI or wire-level detach operations. Detach is a user gesture in the subagents track.
- Do not wait or poll for the agent to finish.

## Copy-And-Paste Prompt
```text
Use the Handoff skill human guide.

My goal:
[Describe the business outcome]

Audience:
[Describe who this is for]

Context and source material:
[Paste notes, examples, links, or existing copy]

Constraints:
[Tone, length, channel, timeline, must-include items, must-avoid items]

Before producing the final output, ask me for any missing information that would materially improve the result.
```

## Final Checklist
- [ ] The output matches the original goal.
- [ ] The audience and context are reflected in the answer.
- [ ] Important constraints and source material were preserved.
- [ ] The assistant made the relevant decisions explicit.
- [ ] The final artifact is ready to use, review, or hand to the next person.

## Source
This guide was generated from the getpaseo/paseo skill entry for `paseo-handoff`.

## Source Skill Notes
These notes preserve the nuance from the original skill. Use them as supporting reference when the workflow above feels too generic.

# Handoff Skill

Transfer the current task — context, decisions, failed attempts, constraints — to a fresh agent. The receiving agent starts with **zero context**, so the handoff prompt must be a self-contained briefing.

**User's arguments:** $ARGUMENTS

## Prerequisites

Read the **paseo** skill. Call `list_profiles` before choosing the receiving agent. Do not create it until you have read the configured profiles and their `notes`.

## Parsing arguments

1. **Agent profile** — explicit profile name first; otherwise choose the profile whose `notes` best match the work. Materialize it into `create_agent` as described by the **paseo** skill. If no profile fits, use Paseo's provider discovery fallback.
2. **Isolation** — "in a worktree" / "worktree" → create a workspace with `isolation: "worktree"`, using a short branch name derived from the task.
3. **Task description** — anything else the user said.

## The handoff prompt

The receiving agent has zero context. Include:

```
## Task
[Imperative description.]

## Context
[Why this task exists, required context.]

## Relevant files
- `path/to/file.ts` — [what it is and why it matters]

## Current state
[What's done, what works, what doesn't.]

## What was tried
- [Approach] — [why it failed or was abandoned]

## Decisions
- [Decision — rationale]

## Acceptance criteria
- [ ] [Criterion]

## Constraints
- [Must-not / must-preserve]
```

**Preserve task semantics.** Investigate-only → "DO NOT edit files." Fix → "implement the fix." Refactor → "refactor, not rewrite." Carry the user's exact intent.

## Launch

Prepare the handoff in a dedicated workspace:

1. Select the current workspace or call `create_workspace` with the requested isolation.
2. Call `create_agent` with a `[Handoff] <task>` title, the briefing as initial prompt, and the selected `workspaceId` when explicit placement is needed.
3. Return the agent and workspace to the user, explaining that it remains in your subagent track until they detach it manually.

Do not encode independence as a create mode and do not invoke CLI or wire-level detach operations. Detach is a user gesture in the subagents track.

Do not wait or poll for the agent to finish.