handoff
Passing work to a person or another harness, with a context summary and what is still open.
Direction: Harness → Chips
Sent by: a harness
Requires a run: no
Schema: handoff.json
Fields
Section titled “Fields”Every event also carries the envelope.
| Field | Required | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
v |
yes | 1 |
Protocol major version. |
type |
yes | "handoff" |
|
id |
yes | string |
The event’s own id. Stable across a retry of the same event. |
ts |
yes | string |
When it happened, by Chips’ clock. Stamped on the way in; a value the sender writes is replaced. |
workspace_id |
yes | string |
A workspace identifier: ws_ followed by a ULID. |
space_id |
no | string |
The space, when the event belongs to one. |
run_id |
no | string |
The run, when the event belongs to one. |
seq |
no | number |
Assigned by the server on append, monotonic per workspace. Absent on the way in. |
idempotency_key |
no | string |
Required on every client-originated write. Sending the same key twice is a no-op. |
actor |
yes | object | The participant an event is attributed to. |
actor.kind |
yes | "person" | "harness" | "agent" | "system" |
Whether a person, a harness, one of a harness’s agents or Chips itself acted. |
actor.id |
yes | string |
The participant id, or system for Chips. |
actor.harness_id |
no | string |
For an agent: the harness it speaks through, whose budget and runs are the agent’s (ADR 0087). Filled in by Chips. |
to |
yes | string |
The participant id receiving the work. |
context_summary |
yes | string |
What the recipient needs to know. |
open_items |
no | string[] |
What is still undone. |
reason |
no | string |
Why the work is moving. |
Example
Section titled “Example”{ "v": 1, "type": "handoff", "id": "evt_01K4ZQPX00000000000000006C", "ts": "2026-09-02T14:22:08.004Z", "workspace_id": "ws_01K4ZQPX000000000000000001", "space_id": "spc_01K4ZQPX000000000000000002", "actor": { "kind": "harness", "id": "hrn_01K4ZQPX000000000000000004" }, "run_id": "run_01K4ZQPX000000000000000005", "to": "usr_01K4ZQPX000000000000000003", "context_summary": "Northwind has not replied in 48 hours. The PO is confirmed on our side; the tracker is updated.", "open_items": [ "Chase Dana for an acknowledgement", "Confirm the pallet count with the warehouse" ], "reason": "Waiting on a person outside the workspace."}