Hand work to the next owner: done, open, blocked, a startable next action, traps not to redo, and exact links.
Handoff
Write for the next owner: next action, traps, and links that stand alone without you.
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Blank, example, and short versions
Blank handoff
Date:
From:
Project:
Done:
Open:
Blocked:
Next action for whoever continues:
Do not redo / traps:
Links:
Realistic handoff example
Date: 2026-09-13
From: Sam
Project: Checkout payment step
Done:
- PR #482 opened; unit tests green
- Staging notes draft started in CHK-91
Open:
- Preview deploy (missing webhook secret)
- Manual click-through of success and failure paths
Blocked:
- DevOps for STRIPE_WEBHOOK_SECRET in preview env (pinged in #infra at 15:40)
Next action for whoever continues:
1. Set STRIPE_WEBHOOK_SECRET in preview
2. Redeploy preview
3. Click success + failure once
4. Comment results on PR #482
Do not redo / traps:
- Do not rotate the production webhook secret
- Do not restart the legacy worker pool; preview uses the new pool only
Links:
PR #482 · ticket CHK-91 · preview URL in the PR description
Chat-sized handoff
Done:
Open:
Blocked:
Next action:
Do not redo:
Links:
About this template
What this is for
Transfer ownership so someone else can continue without pinging you: done, open, blocked, a startable next action, traps, and exact links.
When should you use it?
Use at shutdown, before time off, when another person continues overnight, or when you leave a thread mid-flight across time zones.
When should you skip it?
Skip it when nobody else will touch the work tonight. For a personal close-out with no ownership transfer, a short status note is enough. For an external client pulse, use the client status update instead.
Why this example works
Next action is a numbered sequence a cold reader can run. Blocked names the wait owner. Traps prevent expensive mistakes. Links point to exact artifacts, not a folder.
Job this solves
Async teams lose hours when the next owner has to reconstruct context from chat. This handoff is a relay packet: what finished, what is open, what is blocked, what to do next, what not to redo, and where the artifacts live.
How to fill it
List Done as outcomes, not a timesheet of activity.
Write Open with enough detail for a cold reader.
Tie Blocked to an owner or wait.
Make Next action startable without a live call.
Call out traps under Do not redo, and include exact links.
Ownership test
If you deleted your Slack history, could the next person still start in under five minutes? If not, the Next action or Links section is too thin.
Common mistakes
Writing a diary instead of a relay
Next action that only you understand
Missing traps that cause repeated work overnight
Pasting screenshots of your desktop instead of links