model-handoff

What This Skill Does

The model-handoff skill acts as a crucial bridge for context retention across different LLM sessions. As users transition between various AI models like Claude, GPT, or Gemini, vital project information, behavioral constraints, and task status are often lost. This skill automates the creation and maintenance of a HANDOFF.md file in the workspace root. This file functions as a 'fast-boot' manifest, enabling any new model to instantly inherit the project state, active file references, and necessary behavioral rules. By centralizing this information, the agent ensures that no momentum is lost during a switch, effectively creating a persistent thread of memory for an otherwise ephemeral model session.

Installation

To integrate this skill into your environment, run the following command in your terminal: clawhub install openclaw/skills/skills/bwiley1989/model-handoff Once installed, ensure your AGENTS.md file is updated to include a directive for new models to read HANDOFF.md immediately upon initiation.

Use Cases

• Model Rotation: When switching models to optimize for cost, speed, or reasoning capabilities, use this skill to preserve your progress.
• Long-running Projects: During extended development sessions, use this to summarize complex state changes, ensuring a new model doesn't re-tread ground already covered.
• Handing Off Context: When you need a specialized model to take over a specific coding task, this skill ensures the new agent understands its identity and current project constraints.
• Proactive Maintenance: Keep documentation synchronized automatically so that you are never caught off-guard by a model reset.

Example Prompts

1. "I'm switching to GPT-4o for this coding task; please update the HANDOFF.md file so the new model knows exactly where I am."
2. "How can I make sure the next model I use doesn't lose the context of our current work on the API refactor?"
3. "We've been working for hours—please generate a fresh HANDOFF.md with all our current project files and the rules you've been following."

Tips & Limitations

• Stay Dense: The HANDOFF.md should be a summary, not a novel. Focus on file paths, current status, and critical constraints.
• Security: Never place secrets, passwords, or personal keys directly into the HANDOFF.md file. Always point to external credential files instead.
• Timestamps: Always check the 'Last updated' section to ensure the context you are inheriting is still relevant to the current state of your code.
• Proactive Updates: Don't wait for a crash or a forced restart; trigger an update whenever you finish a major milestone or reach a stable breaking point in your project.