What is Agent Handoff? — Plain-Language AI Definition

What is Agent Handoff?

An agent handoff happens when one AI agent passes the task to another agent. The handoff may include the current goal, relevant context, completed work, open questions, and rules for what should happen next.

In a multi-agent system, handoffs are how specialization becomes useful instead of chaotic.

Why It Matters

If the handoff is weak, the next agent may repeat work, misunderstand the task, or act without the context it needs. That makes the whole system slower and less reliable.

Good handoffs improve:

• continuity
• specialization
• error isolation
• output consistency

What a Good Handoff Includes

A strong handoff usually contains:

• the goal
• current status
• key facts
• unresolved questions
• tool or permission limits
• expected output format

Common Mistake

The biggest mistake is assuming the next agent can infer everything from raw history. In practice, concise summaries and explicit task framing usually work better than dumping the entire transcript.

Key Takeaway

Agent handoff is the connective tissue of multi-agent systems. It is what lets one agent stop and another continue without losing the thread.