Baton Pass

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---
name: baton-pass
description: Multi-agent handoff workflow for coding repos, shared across Claude and Codex. Use when work must pause, transfer, or resume between agents or sessions — new-game (set up a repo), save-state (pause without handoff), baton-pass (hand off on low tokens or ownership change), foresight (receive and verify), party-check (who owns it now), hindsight (audit claimed-vs-done), dragon-dance (record a workflow lesson). Invoke as /move, $move, or plain name; also on task lists, worktrees, multi-agent plans, or low context.
---

# Baton Pass

Purpose: preserve continuity between multiple agents with the least amount of text necessary.

This is a low-token workflow utility, not a documentation ceremony.

## Quick Setup

### Install on every agent (once per machine)

```bash
npx github:netheremp/baton-pass-netheremp install
```

Installs this skill into `~/.claude` and every `~/.codex*` home. Then:
- Claude Code (CLI + IDE) — skill auto-loads; `/new-game` `/save-state` `/baton-pass` `/foresight` `/dragon-dance` `/party-check` `/hindsight`
- Codex CLI — skill auto-loads; run it explicitly with `$baton-pass`
- Codex desktop app — skill auto-loads; `/prompts:baton-pass` in the composer

Alternatives: `/plugin marketplace add netheremp/baton-pass-netheremp` (Claude Code) or `/plugins` → install (Codex).

### Initialize a repo for multi-agent work

```bash
npx github:netheremp/baton-pass-netheremp init
```

Add `--track-state` to commit handoff state to git (teams that need shared history). Default is local-only (gitignored).

This creates:
- `baton-pass.config.json` — where the workflow finds your memory files
- `baton-pass.state.json` — lightweight shared ownership state
- `docs/agent-handoff.md` — repo-specific rules for all agents
- `docs/current-state.md` — what is happening right now
- `docs/next-task.md` — who owns the work and what comes next
- `docs/progress.md` — running session log (append-only)

`init` also drops the `/move` slash commands into the repo's `.claude/commands/`.

## The Move Set

- `new-game` = initialize the workflow in a fresh repo
- `save-state` = pause safely without handing off
- `baton-pass` = transfer work when tokens are low or ownership changes
- `foresight` = receive or resume work, verify alignment, then continue
- `dragon-dance` = improve the workflow only when a real lesson was learned
- `party-check` = inspect who last acted, who should act next, and the current repo state
- `hindsight` = audit the full baton chain — milestones claimed, verifications made, risks carried, items never resolved

## Core Rule

Default to delta, not recap.

Do not restate stable project history unless the receiver cannot continue safely without it.

## When To Use Each Move

### `new-game`

Use once at repo start, or when introducing this workflow into a repo that has no shared memory files yet.

### `save-state`

Use when:
- you must stop suddenly
- you are pausing work for later
- ownership is not changing yet

`save-state` is a local checkpoint, not a transfer.

### `baton-pass`

Use when:
- tokens are low
- another agent is taking over
- you need a transferable continuity package

`baton-pass` is a transfer checkpoint.

### `foresight`

Use when:
- receiving a baton
- returning after a save-state
- there is any doubt that the written state still matches the repo

### `dragon-dance`

Use only when:
- the workflow itself learned something
- the receiver found drift
- the baton omitted something important
- a new rule would clearly prevent repeated waste

Do not trigger `dragon-dance` by reflex.
Do not include it in every session or `baton-pass` by default.

### `party-check`

Use when:
- you forgot whose turn it is
- multiple agents share the repo
- you want the current status without paying for a full `foresight`

`party-check` is the in-session move. From a plain terminal (no agent, no tokens) run
`baton-pass status` — it prints the same ownership read plus the recent baton chain, and
`baton

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