The /handoff routine
I can close a chat and open a new one without re-explaining anything. When I type /handoff, or just say "let's wrap up," Claude writes down what was decided and why, what we learned, what is still open and the exact next step, and saves it where the next session reads it automatically.
- Why
- I lost six hours once because a session proposed rebuilding something without ever finding the 15-step plan that already existed. Sessions were also creating tasks and never reading them, so tasks piled up unseen.
How I built it
- I wrote the routine as one text file of steps, and a one-line command that says: follow every step in order.
- I had it pull out decisions with the why, things figured out, open questions and next actions.
- I made it check every claim about the outside world and label it before saving.
- I made it go through open tasks one by one and ask me before closing any.
- I had it write a short "start here" note that loads automatically next time.
- I had it say so plainly if I spent the session on something low priority while a top priority sat open.
- To copy it you need
- Claude, or the AI of your choice, and a notes folder it can write to. The gotcha: if the AI summarizes loosely, the next session inherits a guess. Make it use an exact structure and mark what it didn't check.
Try it yourself
Copy this prompt and paste it into ChatGPT or Claude to try it yourself.
I want to copy the /handoff routine from Frances Tang's What Are We Building profile. At the end of a working session she says "let's wrap up" and her AI writes down what was decided and why, what was learned, what is still open and the exact next step, then saves it where the next session will read it first. Every claim gets labeled verified, corrected or unverified, and unverified claims are not saved. Her gotcha: an early version carried an unchecked claim into the next session and she lost hours to it. Help me write my own version as a short set of steps you follow whenever I say "wrap up," ending with a block I can paste into a new chat. Start by running it on this conversation. Ask me for anything you need.
Tools I used for this project
