claude-handoff

Session handoff & auto-continuation for Claude Code.

When a working session approaches its context limit, /handoff generates a structured handoff document, launches a fresh session, and the new session picks up exactly where the old one left off — no copy-paste, no context loss.

What It Does

1. You invoke /handoff in a session that is about to end (context full, long-running task needs continuation, end of day).
2. The skill synthesizes the conversation into a self-contained Starting Prompt and saves it as a handoff document in Claude's auto-memory.
3. Optionally launches a new terminal tab running claude with the Starting Prompt as its first message.
4. A SessionStart hook in the new session reads the handoff document and injects it as additional context — the new session begins working immediately.
5. The old session terminates; context has been transferred.

Design Principles

• Explicit only. Handoff runs when you type /handoff. No automatic triggers on SessionEnd, PreCompact, or anywhere else.
• Terminal event. Handoff is for ending a session, not pausing it. The old session's job ends when the new one launches — but only after all its pending work (tool calls, background processes, unsaved state) has completed.
• Layered context. The skill gathers context from conversation → memory → project docs → VCS (optional), degrading gracefully when any layer is unavailable. No git-only assumptions.
• Zero runtime dependencies. Python stdlib only. If python runs, the plugin runs.

Installation

From GitHub (recommended)

# Add this repo as a marketplace
claude plugin marketplace add 392fyc/claude-handoff

# Install the plugin
claude plugin install claude-handoff@claude-handoff

# Restart Claude Code for hooks/skills to load

From a local clone (development)

git clone https://github.com/392fyc/claude-handoff.git
claude plugin marketplace add /path/to/claude-handoff
claude plugin install claude-handoff@claude-handoff --scope local

Update after pulling changes

claude plugin update claude-handoff@claude-handoff
# Then restart the session — plugin cache has version delay

Usage

In any Claude Code session:

/handoff

The skill will:

1. Build a handoff document from conversation context, memory, and project docs
2. Write it to ~/.claude/projects/<encoded-cwd>/memory/session-handoff.md
3. Print the Starting Prompt in the chat so you can paste it manually if preferred
4. Ask whether to launch a new terminal tab automatically

After the new session starts, exit the old one (/exit or close the terminal).

Requirements

• Claude Code
• Python 3.8+ (stdlib only; no pip installs required)
• Windows Terminal (wt) for auto-launch on Windows, or any terminal that can background claude on macOS/Linux

How It Works

SessionStart hook (hooks/session-start.py)

On every new session, the hook checks ~/.claude/projects/<encoded-cwd>/memory/session-handoff.md. If present and non-empty, it outputs the contents wrapped in a <session-handoff> tag via the hookSpecificOutput.additionalContext channel. Claude Code then injects that into the new session's first turn.

/handoff skill

The skill prompt (see skills/handoff/SKILL.md) instructs Claude how to:

• Gather layered context (conversation, memory, docs, optional VCS)
• Compose a self-contained Starting Prompt
• Write the handoff document
• Output the prompt to chat AND launch a new session

Data paths

• $CLAUDE_PLUGIN_DATA — hook logs (poc.log) live here (~/.claude/plugins/data/claude-handoff-<marketplace>/)
• ~/.claude/projects/<encoded-cwd>/memory/ — handoff documents (managed by Claude Code's auto-memory)

Path encoding: replace :, \, / in cwd with -, strip leading -. E.g. D:\Work\Project → D--Work-Project.

File Layout

claude-handoff-plugin/
├── .claude-plugin/
│   ├── plugin.json          # plugin manifest
│   └── marketplace.json     # local marketplace descriptor
├── hooks/
│   ├── hooks.json           # registers SessionStart hook
│   └── session-start.py     # injects handoff doc as additionalContext
├── skills/
│   └── handoff/
│       └── SKILL.md         # /handoff command definition
├── LICENSE
└── README.md

License

MIT