Start From Handover

The receiving end of the context-gate workflow. The previous session wrote a handover plan; this skill loads it, validates the format, summarises what's there, and shifts the new session into "continue from Outstanding" mode.

This skill matches the canonical handover format defined in references/handover-template.md (schema claude-rudder/handover/v1).

When to use

• The user just opened a new Claude session and references a handover file
• The user says "start from handover", "load handover", "resume from <path>", "pick up the plan"
• A previous session ended with context-gate and the user is now in the spawned session

Inputs

• --path <file> (optional) — path to the handover file. If omitted, discover.

Discovery

If no path is given, look for handover files in this order:

1. <repo-root>/planning/handovers/handover-*.md (sorted newest-first by mtime)
2. <repo-root>/.claude/handovers/handover-*.md (legacy location, accept but warn)
3. ${CLAUDE_USER_DATA:-${XDG_DATA_HOME:-$HOME/.local/share}/claude-plugins}/claude-rudder/handovers/handover-*.md

Where <repo-root> is git rev-parse --show-toplevel if cwd is in a git repo, else cwd.

If multiple handovers are found, list the top 5 (newest first) with their written_at timestamp and reason from the frontmatter:

1. handover-2026-04-27-1842.md  (15min ago) — "context cluttered after migration debug"
2. handover-2026-04-25-0930.md  (2 days ago) — "end of work session"
...

Ask the user to pick. If only one exists, default to it after confirming.

Steps

1. Read and validate

Read the picked handover file. Verify:

• Frontmatter is YAML and includes schema: claude-rudder/handover/v1 (warn if absent or mismatched, but proceed)
• Required sections exist: Why this checkpoint, Original ask, Done, Outstanding, Pointers
• The repo in frontmatter matches the current repo (warn if mismatch — the user might be intentionally resuming in a different repo, but flag it)

2. Show a session-orientation summary

Print this to the user before doing any work:

=== Resuming from handover ===
File: <absolute path>
Written: <written_at> by <agent_model> (<harness>)
Reason: <Why this checkpoint section, first sentence>

Original ask:
  <Original ask section, condensed to ~2 lines>

Done in prior session (<n> items):
  - <first 3-5 bullets>
  ...

Outstanding (<n> items):
  - [ ] <each open checkbox bullet>

Open questions for you:
  - <each question, if any>

Gotchas to remember:
  - <each, if any>
=============================

If Open questions is non-empty, do not proceed — answer them with the user first. The prior session deliberately deferred these.

3. Confirm and shift mode

Ask the user:

Pick up from the Outstanding list? (yes / pick specific items / start fresh)

• yes → treat the Outstanding list as the new TODO. Work through items in the listed order unless the user redirects.
• pick specific items → user names which Outstanding bullets to tackle. The rest stay open.
• start fresh → user wants context but a different focus. Ack the handover, drop the resume-mode, await new instructions.

4. Execute

Once the user confirms, work through the Outstanding items. As each completes:

• Optionally update the handover file: change - [ ] to - [x] in the Outstanding section, append a one-line note to the bottom of the Done section.
• Don't rewrite the handover wholesale — append/checkbox-toggle only. The handover is a frozen snapshot of the prior session; this session's work belongs in its own future handover.

5. New decisions or scope changes

If during execution the user makes a new decision that contradicts something in Decisions made, surface it explicitly:

The handover noted: "<decision>". You're now choosing differently. Confirm I should proceed with the new approach?

Then update only this session's working notes — don't retroactively edit the handover.

Hard rules

• Treat the handover as authoritative for prior context. Don't second-guess the Done list or re-do completed work.
• Surface Open questions before doing anything. That's the point of the field.
• Don't write to the handover file beyond checkbox toggles and Done-section appends. The frozen snapshot rule preserves audit trail.
• If validation fails (no schema, no Outstanding section, malformed frontmatter): show the file as-is and ask the user how to proceed. Don't try to "fix" the handover automatically.

Counterparts in claude-rudder

• context-gate — orchestrates the handover-write side (mirror of this skill)
• handover — end-of-session menu, can also write the file consumed here
• handover-with-tasks — task-list-heavy variant, also produces compatible files
• references/handover-template.md — canonical format spec