handoff

# Handoff > **Style:** Mode-B-lite. Produces the active-continuity artifact `docs/tmp/handoff.md` (FR-23 Tier 2) for the NEXT AI coding agent — not a human PM report. Operator-triggered (`invocation: manual`) for **restart** mode; **`Mode: run-ledger`** is the sole sanctioned autonomous write (long-run continuity, announced in chat). ## Purpose Capture the exact current state of a coding session into `docs/tmp/handoff.md` so a brand-new AI session continues without the previous chat. Long sessions degrade and compaction is lossy; a structured handoff preserves goal, repo state, decisions, in-flight files, failed attempts, constraints, and the single next action. This is the **active** restart state; formal role-relay prompts (implement/deploy/architect) are separate dated files under `docs/tmp/handoff/` produced by `implementation-planning` / `release-deploy-reporting`. **Two modes** (header `Mode:` line; absent in a legacy file → treat as restart): **restart** — operator-triggered snapshot for the next session; **run-ledger** — a long autonomous run's continuity note, written without operator trigger and announced in chat (one line), so context death mid-run loses nothing. A fresh session reading `Mode: run-ledger` resumes from records (read the ledger + cited artifacts first, resume from the last durable fact — `task-delegation` successor contract); a run-ledger is a continuity note, not a role-relay draft (it does not breach "AI Developer acknowledges; doesn't draft")....