Handoff.instructions

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description: "Session handoff protocol — cross-conversation persistence, context transfer, and session continuity."
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<!-- handoff.instructions.md — Always loaded via CLAUDE.base.md @-reference.
     Defines the standard handoff protocol for cross-conversation persistence. -->

# Handoff Protocol

When I say "wrap up", "hand off", "fresh context", or when you notice your own outputs degrading (repeating yourself, losing track of earlier decisions, tool calls returning stale results): stop current work, commit what's done, and output a handoff block containing:

- Current plan file path or PRD issue number
- Research file path (`working/research/<topic>.md`) if one exists
- List of files modified this session
- What's done vs what remains
- Exact @-reference command to start the next conversation (see pickup command below)

**Plan persistence:** When a task spans multiple conversations, write the remaining plan to `working/active/<topic>.md` (e.g. `working/active/production-docs-audit.md`). Include full slice details, acceptance criteria, what's done, and what remains. This file is the handoff artifact — the next conversation starts by reading it.

**Pickup command:** Always end a handoff block with a ready-to-paste command for the next conversation: