handoff

Write a document letting a zero-context agent continue this work. Its context window is the scarce resource; the objective is max(signal/noise) * max(clarity) * max(precision) — a product, so zeroing any factor zeroes the handoff. A sentence earns its place only if deleting it would change what the next agent does (signal), reads cold without decoding (clarity), and carries exact identifiers over descriptions (precision). Compress session state, never the conversation.

Procedure

1. Extract the atoms — what the next agent cannot recover on its own: decisions with their why (code shows what, never why not the alternative); failed approaches and discovered constraints; state as done-and-verified / in-flight / known-broken, never blurred; ordered next actions; unsettled open questions.
2. Pointers over prose — anything living in an artifact (code, diffs, commits, specs, issues) is referenced by path, URL, or hash, never restated: restatements bloat and drift, pointers do neither.
3. Strip narrative — chronology ("first we discussed") is noise; causality that constrains the future ("X fails because Y") is signal.
4. Redact secrets and PII, noting what was redacted so the next agent sources it from the environment instead of treating it as missing.
5. Irreducibility test — delete every sentence whose removal leaves the next agent acting identically; finished when no loss-free deletion remains, typically well under a page.

Document

Sections, each only when non-empty: Goal (one sentence) · Now (imperative, ordered) · State (verified / in-flight / broken) · Decisions & constraints (each with its why) · Pointers (paths, commits, re-verification commands) · Suggested skills (what to invoke, for what).

Hard constraints