Handoff Artifacts

A handoff artifact is a structured document that captures everything the next person needs to continue work without repeating what the previous person did. It is the difference between "here is the file, good luck" and "here is the file, here is what I did, here is what is left, and here are the three things to watch out for."

The handoff artifact template: Current State (what has been completed), Remaining Work (what still needs to be done, in priority order), Context (key decisions made during this phase and their rationale), Watch Items (known issues, risks, or edge cases the next person should be aware of), and Claude Session Summary (the prompts and context that produced the current output, so the next person can continue the Claude session without rebuilding context from scratch). The Claude Session Summary is the unique element — it transfers not just the work product but the working method.

## Handoff Artifact: [Project/Task Name]
**From:** [Name] | **To:** [Name] | **Date:** [Date]

### Current State
- [Completed item 1]
- [Completed item 2]

### Remaining Work (priority order)
1. [Next task — estimated effort]
2. [Following task — estimated effort]

### Key Decisions Made
- [Decision]: [Rationale]

### Watch Items
- [Risk/issue to be aware of]

### Claude Context
- Context documents used: [list]
- Key prompts: [the prompts that produced the current output]
- Working session notes: [anything the next person needs to know
  about how Claude was used]