agent-handoff-protocols

Agent handoff protocols transfer task state between agents by using a serialized context contract that preserves key facts, decisions, and confidence. This ensures conversation continuity and prevents duplicated work when control moves to a specialized agent.

Warm handoff routing transfers full task state and conversation context, while cold handoff transfers only task-specific context. Supervised routing adds validation, allowing production workflows to select the appropriate handoff type based on escalation and recovery requirements.

You build an escalation chain by defining a handoff decision mechanism with fallback handling for unavailable targets. This routes stalled or failed multi-agent tasks to fallback agents or human operators while maintaining conversation continuity across agent boundaries.

Yes, deterministic receiver behavior uses a standardized receiver prompt so the next agent continues from where the previous one left off. This structured handoff contract ensures the receiving agent gets the exact task state and context needed.

Multi-agent handoffs stall or duplicate work when they lack a structured handoff contract for task state and context passing. Implementing a serialized handoff context contract with fallback handling for unavailable targets prevents these failures.

No specific framework is required, as the protocols apply to multi-agent systems needing escalation, routing, and supervision. You need a serialized handoff context contract, a trigger mechanism, receiver prompt construction, and fallback handling for unavailable targets.