/ratchet:handoff — transfer without loss

A handoff fails when the receiver has to reconstruct what you already knew. This command produces a self-contained brief that lets another model, agent, teammate, or future you start acting immediately — no re-reading the session, no re-deriving decisions.

Step 0 — Load state

ratchet receipt
ratchet export markdown
ratchet score confidence

Start from ratchet receipt — its eight fixed sections (target · delta · proof · seam · verdict · authority · state · next) are already the handoff spine; the steps below expand each one for the receiver. Delegate to the ratchet-scribe subagent for a long or high-stakes session.

Procedure

Compress the session to exactly what the receiver needs to act — and nothing they'd have to skim past:

1. Objective — the locked target, one line.
2. State of play — what's done, what's in flight, current confidence.
3. Decisions made — commitments + their reversal tripwires (so the receiver doesn't relitigate settled calls).
4. Artifacts — what exists, where, and each one's known holes.
5. Open defects / risks — by severity.
6. The single next action — the exact first move, concrete enough to start on.
7. Context to act — the minimum files, commands, or facts the receiver needs. Point to locations; don't paste the world.
8. Watch-outs — the traps you already hit or foresee.
9. Deviations from the map — if /ratchet:map ran, where the build diverged from its plan (map said X → code revealed Y → call made) and which calls still need the user's judgment. This is what stops the receiver from re-litigating what you already discovered.
10. Probe outcomes — for each probe: the unknown it attacked, the finding, and whether its code was disposed or explicitly promoted. An undisposed probe is a watch-out, not an asset — the receiver must not mistake build-for-learn residue for kept work.

Rules

• Self-contained. If the receiver needs to ask you a question to start, the handoff failed. Anticipate the first question and answer it.
• Compressed, not lossy. Cut commentary; keep every fact that changes a move.
• One next action, not a menu. Handoffs die in ambiguity — name the single move.

Output contract

# Handoff: <working title>
OBJECTIVE: <one line>
STATE: <done / in-flight / confidence score>
DECISIONS: <commitment — tripwire> (each)
ARTIFACTS: <title — location — holes> (each)
OPEN RISKS: <[severity] summary> (each)
NEXT ACTION: <the single concrete first move>
CONTEXT TO ACT: <files / commands / facts, by location>
WATCH-OUTS: <traps>
DEVIATIONS: <map said X → code revealed Y → call made> (each, if a map ran)
PROBES: <unknown → finding → disposed | promoted> (each, if any ran)
NEXT COMMAND: /ratchet:<command>

Serialize

ratchet artifact add '{"title":"handoff brief","kind":"decision-record","status":"v0"}'
ratchet compile done

ratchet compile done is the only checkpoint transition. The checkpoint scalars are no longer settable by hand, because a checkpoint you can assert records nothing. It prints the next required transition; a handoff that ends on a checkpoint says CHECKPOINTED, not CLOSED, and names what closing would still take.

A good handoff is measured by one thing: the receiver's first action is correct without asking you anything.