Agent To Agent Handoff is a skill for developers building multi-agent workflows, agentic loops, and sub-agent architectures. When one specialized agent hands a task to another — for example, a researcher passing findings to a coder, or a developer passing code to a reviewer — context is frequently lost, irrelevant information is carried forward, or sensitive details leak across agent boundaries. This skill addresses those problems by providing a structured framework for creating mission packets that travel with the handoff.

The skill performs four distinct functions. Context packing strips away conversational noise and condenses only the verified facts and current state needed for the next agent to proceed without redundant re-discovery. Authority routing explicitly declares what the receiving agent is permitted to modify, delete, or execute, preventing scope creep or unintended side effects. Structured return contracts specify exactly how the receiving agent must report its results, grounding responses in evidence rather than inference. Failure recovery generates specialized packets that help a repair agent diagnose and recover from tool errors or failed runs.

This skill is intended for developers working with runtimes such as Claude Code, Cursor, or custom LangChain and AutoGPT environments. It does not expose network tools or database connectors — it operates on the coordination layer between agents, not on external systems. Use it when the overhead of context drift or authority ambiguity across agent transitions is degrading the reliability of a long-running or multi-session workflow.

Use cases

Package verified facts and current task state into a compact handoff packet before passing control to a sub-agent

Define explicit permission boundaries so a receiving agent knows exactly what files or actions it is authorized to touch

Specify a structured return contract so results from a downstream agent arrive in a consistent, verifiable format

Generate a failure recovery packet when a tool error or failed run requires a repair agent to diagnose the problem

Reduce token waste in agentic loops by stripping chat noise before handing context to the next agent

Coordinate multi-session tasks where a receiving agent in a new session must resume without re-discovering prior state

When to use it

Building multi-agent pipelines where specialized agents hand off to one another across distinct roles

Running long tasks that span multiple sessions and require preserved, minimal context at each transition

Enforcing strict authority boundaries to prevent a receiving agent from acting outside its intended scope

Standardizing how downstream agents report results back to an orchestrator

When not to use it

Single-agent workflows where no handoff between agents occurs

Scenarios requiring direct integration with databases, APIs, or external services — this skill covers coordination only

Workflows that do not involve agentic runtimes or LLM-based agents

Projects where no tool list or facts are supplied, as this skill provides no callable tools itself