Society · Protocols
Handoff
Transfer control and context between agents
Definition
Mechanism
Transfers control from one Agent to another along with relevant Context. The sending Agent explicitly yields authority, passing conversation State, Task Context, and any agent-specific instructions. Used in swarm architectures where specialized Agents handle different aspects of a Task. It extends Delegate by transferring full Responsibility and authority to the receiving Agent.
Risks
Failure modes
{{context}} Loss
Critical information not passed in handoff.
Relationships
Builds on
Accepts
Infrastructure
Portable execution environment with inherited constraints
Continuous ownership of a system invariant
Infrastructure
The atomic unit of intent
Composes with
Work handoff: delegate → accept/refuse → heartbeat → result-or-failure
Used by
References
Mind
When something ends, close, transfer or release every open obligation before declaring the end
Before leaving a role, move everything that depends on you personally to institutions or successors
Reference