RCP-CWK-002 Cowork Direct Handoff

Writes a complete handoff snapshot to your chat history file, captures lessons learned, validates accuracy

The AI compiles your session data (accomplishments, files touched, key decisions, next priorities), generates a structured handoff block in CRAFT format, and runs an integrated Lessons Learned capture that identifies new learnings, formats them, presents them for your review, and writes approved entries to your LL file. Before committing, the handoff passes through a validation gate where claims are independently verified against git history and file state using Chain-of-Verification. The validated handoff is appended to your chat history file and a git checkpoint is created.

Cowork Direct Handoff

Cowork | Session Lifecycle | Difficulty: Beginner | Time: 2–5 min
Tags: Session, Handoff, Git, Cowork, Lessons Learned, Validation, Essential, Frequently Used

TL;DR

What It Does
Writes a complete handoff snapshot to your chat history file, captures lessons learned, validates accuracy through an independent review, and commits everything to git — all without copy/paste.
How It Works
The AI compiles your session data (accomplishments, files touched, key decisions, next priorities), generates a structured handoff block in CRAFT format, and runs an integrated Lessons Learned capture that identifies new learnings, formats them, presents them for your review, and writes approved entries to your LL file. Before committing, the handoff passes through a validation gate where claims are independently verified against git history and file state using Chain-of-Verification. The validated handoff is appended to your chat history file and a git checkpoint is created.
What To Expect
A handoff block appended to your chat history containing session summary, accomplishments, files touched, key decisions, deferred items, next priorities, and metadata. If Lessons Learned capture is enabled, you will review and approve new entries before they are written. The validation gate independently checks handoff claims against actual git history and file state before the final commit.
Best Results When You
Run this at the end of each session when your work is at a natural stopping point. The recipe captures more accurate context when recent git commits document your session’s changes. If you have cross-project transfers to report, complete them before running the handoff.
Time
2–5 minutes (quick mode is faster; detailed mode adds human review of each section).
Difficulty
Beginner — the recipe handles everything automatically in quick mode. You just confirm or adjust the generated content.

How To Start

This recipe runs at the end of a work session to preserve context for the next session. You can invoke it manually, or the CRAFT Operations Manager will suggest it when approaching token limits.

STEP 1Tell the AI to Create a Handoff

Specify which handoff mode you want. Quick mode auto-generates everything from session context. Detailed mode presents each section for your review before writing. Partial mode creates a mid-session checkpoint without closing the session.
Available parameters
  • mode · string · optional · default: quick
    Handoff mode. Options: quick (auto-generate from session context), detailed (step-by-step with human review of each section), partial (mid-session checkpoint, minimal output).
  • push_to_github · boolean · optional · default: false
    Whether to push to GitHub after the git commit. Set to true if you want the remote repository updated immediately.
  • ll_capture · string · optional · default: auto
    Lessons Learned capture mode. Options: auto (identify and capture learnings at handoff time), skip (bypass LL capture entirely).
Example invocations
Quick handoff
#H->AI::Directive: (Create Cowork direct handoff)
Detailed handoff with review
#H->AI::Directive: (Create Cowork direct handoff, mode detailed)
Quick handoff with git push
#H->AI::Directive: (Create Cowork direct handoff, push_to_github true)

STEP 2Review the Handoff Draft

The AI compiles session data and generates a structured handoff block. In detailed mode, it presents each section (summary, accomplishments, priorities) for your review and revision. In quick mode, it generates everything automatically and presents the complete draft for your confirmation.

STEP 3Approve Lessons Learned Entries

If LL capture is enabled, the AI scans the session for learnings, categorizes them, and presents formatted entries for your approval. In quick mode, you can accept all, review individually, or skip. Each approved entry is written to your Lessons Learned file.

STEP 4Confirm the Handoff

The AI writes the validated handoff to your chat history file, creates a git commit, and optionally pushes to GitHub. It reports the handoff ID, commit hash, and confirmation that the session is safe to end.

Usage Examples

Two scenarios showing the handoff process — a quick end-of-session handoff and a detailed handoff with GitHub push.
Example 1 · Quick handoff at session end
User:#H->AI::Directive: (Create Cowork direct handoff)
AI:Generating handoff H100. Compiling session data. Found 12 files modified, 3 created. Scanning for Lessons Learned. Identified 2 potential entries.
AI:2 potential Lessons Learned identified: [LL-287] PROCESS_FIX — Pipeline throughput improved by batching visual proposals with evaluations. [LL-288] TOOL_BEHAVIOR — Edit tool requires unique match strings longer than 40 characters in large HTML files. [A] Accept all   [R] Review individually   [S] Skip
User:A
AI:Entries written. Routing to validation gate. Fernand verification: 5/5 checks passed. APPROVED. Writing handoff H100 to chat history. Git commit: a3f7c92. Session safe to end.
[Handoff complete — context preserved for next session]
Example 2 · Detailed handoff with push
User:#H->AI::Directive: (Create Cowork direct handoff, mode detailed, push_to_github true)
AI:Starting detailed handoff for H045. Here is the session summary — please review: Completed website audit of 6 pages. Identified 14 content blocks needing updates. Created SP12 subproject for page refresh work.
User:Add that we also finalized the navigation redesign.
AI:Updated. Proceeding to accomplishments. After all sections confirmed, writing to chat history. Fernand validation: 5/5 passed. Git commit and push: a1b2c3d pushed to origin/main. Handoff H045 finalized.
[Session ends with all changes pushed to remote]

How AI Reads This Recipe

When this recipe is triggered, the AI acts as a session closer that compiles context and writes it to persistent files. The AI should:
  1. DETERMINE the next handoff ID by reading the chat history file and finding the most recent completed handoff, then incrementing.
  2. GATHER session data: accomplishments, files touched, key decisions, deferred items, next priorities, open questions, risks, and cross-project transfer activity.
  3. GENERATE the handoff content in structured CRAFT format with named sections (SESSION_CONTEXT, SESSION_SUMMARY, ACCOMPLISHMENTS, FILES_TOUCHED, KEY_DECISIONS, and others).
  4. CAPTURE persona state including active persona, tier, tone calibration, and user preferences for restoration in the next session.
  5. WRITE the handoff to the chat history file using Edit tool, replacing the Tbd placeholder or appending after the last handoff.
  6. RUN Lessons Learned capture (if enabled): scan session for learnings by category, format entries, present for user review, and write approved entries to the LL file.
  7. EXECUTE the Pre-Handoff Validation Gate: independently verify handoff claims using Chain-of-Verification — check accomplishments against git log, files touched against git diff, LL count, deferred item consistency, and recipe counts. Flag discrepancies for correction before commit.
  8. CREATE git checkpoint, staging chat history, lessons learned, and any other modified files. Push to GitHub if requested.
  9. INCREMENT backup counter. When it reaches 10, auto-trigger CWK-ADM-076 for automated backup.
  10. CONFIRM completion with handoff ID, commit hash, push status, and resume instructions for the next session.
The AI must NOT skip the validation gate even when the handoff appears routine. This gate catches silent drift — accomplishments that were not actually committed, files claimed as modified that were only read, or LL counts that do not match. The validation runs automatically; no user action is required.

When to Use This Recipe

Use this recipe when you:
  • Are ending a work session and want to preserve context for the next session.
  • Need a mid-session checkpoint before a risky operation (use partial mode).
  • Want to capture Lessons Learned entries from the current session.
  • Need to push your session artifacts to GitHub before switching devices.
  • The CRAFT Operations Manager warns that token usage is approaching the handoff threshold.
Do not use this recipe when:
You have no meaningful session activity to capture. If you opened a session, asked a quick question, and want to close without preserving context, simply end the session — a handoff for a trivial session creates noise in the chat history. If you need to hand off to a different device, use CWK-002a (Device-Switch Handoff) instead, which adds device-specific sync steps.

Recipe FAQ

Q.What is the difference between quick, detailed, and partial modes?

Quick mode auto-generates the handoff from session context with minimal interaction — you just approve Lessons Learned entries and confirm. Detailed mode presents each handoff section (summary, accomplishments, priorities) for your review before writing. Partial mode creates a lightweight mid-session checkpoint that can be updated later — it skips key decisions, open questions, and risks.

Q.What happens if the validation gate finds discrepancies?

The AI corrects the handoff content and re-runs validation (one retry). If discrepancies remain after the retry, the handoff proceeds with the issues noted in metadata. The most common discrepancy is claiming a file was modified when it was only read.

Q.Can I skip Lessons Learned capture?

Yes. Set ll_capture to skip in your directive, or the AI will skip it automatically in partial mode. You can also choose “S” (Skip) when presented with potential entries.

Q.How does this relate to the Core Handoff Snapshot recipe?

This recipe extends the Core Handoff Snapshot (RCP-001-001-002) with Cowork-specific capabilities: direct file writes (no copy/paste), integrated git commits, Lessons Learned capture, validation gate, backup counter tracking, and cross-project transfer summaries.

Q.What if the chat history file is missing?

The recipe uses folder-qualified discovery paths to locate the chat history file, with a flat-path fallback for older project structures. If no chat history file exists at all, the recipe reports an error — you likely need to run session initialization (CWK-001) first to set up the project files.

Version History

Changes to this recipe over time. Most recent first.
v1.06a 2026-04-11
Removed backup maintenance calls (CWK-042/043) from Step 6a. Both recipes eliminated in SP08. Replaced by CWK-ADM-076 automated write-only backups triggered every 10 handoffs via backup counter.
v1.05a 2026-03-15
Added standalone discovery fallback with folder-qualified paths. Chat history and lessons learned files discovered via folder-qualified glob, falling back to flat-path scan for pre-migration workspaces.
v1.04a 2026-03-10
Integrated Lessons Learned capture as Step 4a. Four-phase workflow adapted from STU-031: identification (by category), generation (formatted entries), user review (batch or individual), and write to LL file.
v1.02a 2026-03-01
Added Fernand Pre-Handoff Validation Gate (Step 4b). Uses Chain-of-Verification to independently verify handoff claims against git history and file state before commit. Includes CWK-024 verification gate integration.
v1.00a 2026-02-28
Initial release. Direct write to chat history file, structured CRAFT format handoff, persona state capture, git checkpoint, cross-project transfer activity summary.

Get this recipe with CRAFT for Claude Cowork

Cowork recipes ship bundled with CRAFT for Claude Cowork — there’s no separate download. Clone the framework once, and your AI runs every recipe automatically when invoked.

Pull anytime to stay on the latest version — free to clone, no login or email required.

Then start your session

Once CRAFT is in your project folder, open a new Cowork session and ask Claude to initialize. For example:

You

Please initialize my CRAFT session.

Claude

CRAFT session ready. Your project is loaded, your persona is active, and your recipes are available. What would you like to work on?

What is CRAFT for Claude Cowork?

Not familiar with Git? Download as a ZIP

No command line needed. Just download, move, and unzip:

  1. Open the CRAFT framework repo on GitHub.
  2. Click the green Code button, then choose Download ZIP.
  3. Move the downloaded ZIP into your Claude Cowork project folder.
  4. Unzip it: double-click on Mac, or right-click → Extract All on Windows.

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