handoff

Write ~/.claude/custom-handoff.md (resolve ~ to the user's home directory) summarizing current work so the next Claude session can pick up where this one left off.

Focus argument

$ARGUMENTS, when present, is the user's steer for what the handoff should emphasize. Let it bias every section — GOAL, RECENT CONCLUSIONS, and NEXT especially — toward that thread of the work. Trim or drop details unrelated to the focus, and let NEXT lead with the focused action. Still keep # ORIGINAL PROMPT verbatim; the focus reshapes emphasis, not the recorded intent. When $ARGUMENTS is empty, weight sections as the rules below describe.

Steps

1. Move any prior handoff out of the way (ignore errors if the file is absent; trash-put isn't installed everywhere, hence the fallback): trash-put ~/.claude/custom-handoff.md 2>/dev/null || mv ~/.claude/custom-handoff.md "${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/custom-handoff.md.old" 2>/dev/null || true
2. Write fresh content per template. No merge, no preserve.

Template

# ORIGINAL PROMPT

<the user's opening prompt from this conversation, verbatim if short; otherwise a one-to-two-sentence summary that preserves the ask>

# GOAL

<one line: what we're doing now>

# DONE

- <thing done>
- <thing done>

# RECENT CONCLUSIONS

- <decision, agreement, or insight from last few turns — what shifted the plan>
- <open question raised at end, still unanswered>

# NEXT

<concrete next action — derived from RECENT CONCLUSIONS, not stale earlier intent>

# WATCH OUT

<gotchas; omit section if none>

# SUGGESTED SKILLS

- `/plugin:skill` — <why the next session should invoke it>

Rules

• Terse, scannable, under 250 words total.
• # ORIGINAL PROMPT anchors intent across sessions — do not drop it even if the work has drifted.
• Weight the final turns heaviest. Conclusions, decisions, course corrections, and open questions from the last few messages drive NEXT. Early-conversation context is backdrop, not the lead.
• # RECENT CONCLUSIONS captures what was just decided or learned — not a re-summary of DONE. If the last turns only restated earlier work, leave it empty rather than padding.
• If user and assistant disagreed or pivoted near the end, record the resolution (or that it's unresolved).
• Use file paths, not descriptions (e.g. src/auth.ts:42, not "the auth file").
• No prose narration ("we decided to...").
• Redact secrets. API keys, tokens, passwords, connection strings, and personal data never land in the file. Name where a value lives (.env:DATABASE_URL) instead of the value itself.
• Point, don't copy. Anything already captured in a spec, ticket, ADR, commit, or diff gets referenced by path or id — never re-summarized here.
• # SUGGESTED SKILLS names the skills the next session should invoke for this work, with a few words on why each. Omit the section when nothing specific applies.
• Omit # WATCH OUT when there are no gotchas.