Goal-focused context transfer for Claude Code - transform /compact into system instructions that preserves the current task post-compact
What It Does
Claude-Handoff extends /compact with optional goal-focused handoff. When you run /compact handoff:<your goal> the plugin:
- Captures your goal and current session state before compaction
- Analyzes the previous thread to extract an immediate handoff instructions
- Injects the handoff as a system message in the new, compacted session
- Automatically starts the new session ready to execute your goal
Simply prompt the agent to 'proceed' and you're away.
How It Works
-
PreCompact Hook: Activates only when you use
/compact handoff:...format- Extracts your goal from the
handoff:prefix - Uses
claude --resume <session> --fork-session --model haiku --print <prompt>to generate handoff immediately - Saves pre-generated handoff content and goal to
.git/handoff-pending/handoff-context.jsontemporarily
- Extracts your goal from the
-
Compact: Proceeds normally
-
SessionStart Hook: Runs in the continued session
- Reads pre-generated handoff content from saved state
- Injects handoff as system message
- Cleans up state file
-
Result: Session continues with focused context injected, ready to execute your goal, just prompt it to go
Why?
Traditional compaction is lossy and unfocused - each summary degrades context quality. Goal-focused handoffs produce sharper results and get you back where you left off.
Trade-offs
Inspired by AmpCode's handoff model, and my own observations, this plugin auto-injects generated context without human review. Claude Code hooks can't pause for user editing.
PreCompact prompting for handoff adds some execution time to /compact, approximately ~20s.
Installation
# From your project directory
claude plugin marketplace add kylesnowschwartz/claude-handoff
claude plugin install claude-handoff
Usage
Trigger goal-focused handoff:
/compact handoff:now implement this for teams as well, not just individual users
/compact handoff:execute phase one of the created plan
/compact handoff:find other places in the codebase that need this same fix
Regular compact (no handoff):
/compact
/compact keep the context tight
Configuration
Enable debug logging: Edit handoff-plugin/hooks/lib/logging.sh and set LOGGING_ENABLED=true
View logs:
tail -f /tmp/handoff-precompact.log /tmp/handoff-sessionstart.log
Development
This plugin follows the Claude Code plugin architecture:
.claude-plugin/marketplace.json- Local marketplace definitionhandoff-plugin/.claude-plugin/plugin.json- Plugin metadatahandoff-plugin/commands/- Slash commandshandoff-plugin/hooks/- Hook implementations
License
MIT - See LICENSE file for details