handoff

name: handoff type: mode-shift description: End this session and produce a launch command for the user's next interactive primary. argument-hint: "What will the next session focus on?" user-invocable: true model-invocable: true

End this session. Write a transition brief, print a primary launch command, and stop. The user runs the command to start a new interactive session with a different agent lead.

Use at phase boundaries: requirements approved, design approved, scope problem, implementation complete.

If arguments were passed, treat them as the focus for the next session.

Write the Transition Brief

Start with /intent-modeling — separate what the human said from what they actually want to be true when this work is done. The modeled intent shapes everything in the brief.

Then compact the conversation into a file the next agent reads as its opening prompt:

Human intent — the end goal in their terms, not implementation steps
Current state — what was accomplished, where things stand
Key decisions and why
Open questions or blockers
Artifact paths — exact file paths to read first
Suggested skills to invoke

Reference artifacts by path; don't duplicate their content.

Write to the active work directory (meridian work current). No work item → write to a temp file.

Run Pre-* Checks

Before completing the handoff, check if any pre-* checkpoint skills are installed for the next phase (e.g., pre-dev for implementation handoffs). If present, load and run them to verify workspace, branches, and prerequisites are ready for the next agent. Skip if none are installed.

Choose the Next Agent

Explicit argument wins: /handoff tech-lead.

Otherwise infer from context. If ambiguous, run meridian mars list --json and ask.

Show the Chain

Before printing the launch command, show the user the handoff trail for the active work item so they can see where they've been:

meridian work sessions --primary

This lists the primary sessions on the work item — current and historical — the chain the user actually navigated through. It's for the user's awareness only; the launch command's --from always points at the current session, not at anything in this list.

Print the Launch Command

Resolve $MERIDIAN_CHAT_ID to the concrete chat ID (e.g., c102) and print the command with the resolved value — the user will run this in a new terminal where the env var no longer exists.

meridian -a [agent] \
  --work [work-id] \
  --task-dir [path] \
  --prompt-file [path-to-brief] \
  --from [resolved-chat-id]

This is meridian, not meridian spawn. Primary launch — interactive, user in the loop. Include --work when a work item is active. Include --task-dir when the work is happening in a different directory (e.g. a worktree or sibling repo).

Stop after printing the command. The user runs it in a new terminal — this session's job is done once the command is on screen.