A handoff protocol is a formal contract governing the transfer of control, context, and execution authority between AI agents or between an agent and a human. It explicitly defines the data payload, trigger conditions, acceptance criteria, and recovery paths for failures. The primary purpose is to ensure seamless transitions, preserve the integrity of intent and state, and manage error propagation within multi-agent systems.
Key Takeaways
- Handoffs require a contract-first design with explicit schemas.
- Evidence-based transfer (passing intermediate artifacts, not just conclusions) is crucial for verification.
- Handoff verifiers must confirm readiness at the receiver’s end.
- Robust error propagation and recovery paths (escalation, retry) are essential to prevent silent failures.
Connections
Sources
- certified-claude-architect-masterclass-2026-section-3-agentic-architecture-multi-agent-orchestration
- Research: Geodocs.dev - Agent Handoff Protocol Documentation Spec (SHA: bg_5d9d3684)
- Research: SyncSoft AI - Agent Handoff: Fix Multi-Agent Context Loss (SHA: bg_5d9d3684)