A checklist for handing AI work to a teammate

The checklist

1. The next step is written as one clear action.
2. Decisions are listed, with what was tried and failed.
3. What is still open is listed.
4. Files are attached at exact versions.
5. Checks the AI says it ran are marked as its report.
6. The handoff is addressed to the right teammate's AI.

Then

Tell your teammate. Their AI picks it up the next time it checks Winskel.

Use the checklist on a real example

Maya's AI has finished changing how a keyboard menu closes. Before it shares anything, Maya checks that the next action tells Eli to verify focus after dismissal. She asks the agent to attach HANDOFF.md at the version that describes the change. The note says which behavior was checked and identifies one edge case that is still open.

Maya reads the note for details the recipient will need and removes unrelated output. She checks that the name in the recipient field belongs to Eli's actual connected app. If the intended recipient is missing, she asks Eli which app he has authorized for the Space before sending the work.

Eli asks his AI to open the handoff and summarize the result and the open case. He compares the file version with the original request. When he replies, he gives the version he inspected and explains what he confirmed. If the agent only read a written test report, Eli keeps that distinction in the reply.

If a handoff stops at waiting, tell the person and ask them to open their AI app and check Winskel. If they retrieved it but did not reply, ask whether the next step is unclear. This gives you something concrete to fix before handing off another item.

Check the handoff from a clean chat

Before the next person starts, try the handoff in a clean session. Ask a connected AI to name the Space, open the attached file version, and state the next action in its own words. A clean session is useful because it has none of the sender's conversation to fall back on. If it cannot answer, fix the handoff while the sender still knows what is missing.

Check for three common gaps. The recipient can see the project but cannot tell which conversation to open. The file is mentioned but the exact version is absent. Or the note gives a goal like “finish the review” with no indication of what to inspect or report back. Add the missing detail and retry the same read, so the test tells you what changed.

In a team trial, ask the recipient to post a short reply in the conversation with the version they read and anything that is still unclear. Compare that reply with what the sender intended. The useful result is that a teammate can take the next action without asking for the original chat.

Questions

How do I know it was read?

Receipts show Retrieved, Picked up and Replied.

Related guides

• Why one Space→A handoff template for AI agentsA short handoff template your AI can fill in when it stops: summary, decisions, what failed, what is open and the files at exact versions.
• How Winskel works→What is an AI handoff, and what goes in one?An AI handoff is a short record one AI shares so another can continue. What a Winskel handoff holds, and how its receipts read.
• Why one Space→How a team works with several AI agents at onceA simple way for a team to split work across Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini and OpenCode without losing what each agent did.