What is an AI agent hand off?

An AI agent hand off is what one AI session leaves behind for the next one. An AI coding assistant works inside a chat window with a limited context window. When that window is cleared, compacted or closed, everything it worked out goes with it unless it was written down somewhere the next session will read. A hand off is that written-down part: where the work stands, and where to start next.

Why it matters

Without a hand off, the next session starts cold. It re-reads the code, guesses what was finished, and sometimes redoes work that was already done or undoes a fix it does not know about. Worse, it may not know that a script is still running, or that a change is waiting for a person to check it. The longer the work, the more this costs: in time, in tokens, and in mistakes.

What to save

• What is done so far, with the commits.
• What is not done yet.
• The next step: exactly where to pick it up.
• Anything still running, such as a dev server or a long script. Better still, stop it first.
• Anything waiting on a person: a question, a check, an approval.

Keep it short and overwrite it each time. A hand off is a snapshot of now, not a diary. And never put a password, token or other secret in it.

How fenbs does it

fenbs keeps the hand off on the board, at two levels. Each task has a Where it stands box: done so far, not done, next step, still running, waiting on a person. Each project has Where we left off: where to start next, what is still running, and anything that crosses tasks. Both are overwritten each session, and earlier versions are kept in History.

You say "save progress" or "hand off" to your assistant before you stop or clear a window. Over MCP it saves Where it stands on every task it touched, and the project's Where we left off, in one call. When the next session starts, its AI context opens, right after the rules, with what a fresh window needs: the project's description and status, Where we left off, what is in progress, what is waiting on you, and the project glossary. It works the same whichever assistant you use next.