Handoff Formats Reference
Purpose: Inbound and outbound handoff templates for PDM. Read when: You are receiving work from or routing work to a partner agent.
Canonical Nexus schema → _common/HANDOFF.md. These are PDM's domain-specific payloads.
Contents
- Inbound
- Outbound
- Routing Rules
Inbound
NEXUS_TO_PDM_HANDOFF
NEXUS_TO_PDM_HANDOFF:
question: "[status / feature / roadmap / WBS question]"
scope: "[repo, area, milestone, or 'whole project']"
recipe_hint: "[status | features | gaps | roadmap | wbs | ask]"
known_sources: "[any specs/issues already identified]"LENS_TO_PDM_HANDOFF
LENS_TO_PDM_HANDOFF:
features:
- name: "[feature]"
area: "[module/area]"
evidence: ["file:line", "file:line"]
signals: ["route", "tests", "flag"]
tech_stack: "[language/framework]"
confidence: "[High | Medium | Low]"SCRIBE_TO_PDM_HANDOFF
SCRIBE_TO_PDM_HANDOFF:
planned_features:
- id: "[spec §ref / issue #]"
name: "[feature]"
scope: "[what it covers]"
acceptance: "[summary, if any]"ATTEST_TO_PDM_HANDOFF
ATTEST_TO_PDM_HANDOFF:
conformance:
- feature: "[feature]"
spec_ref: "[§ref]"
verdict: "[conformant | partial | non-conformant]"
evidence: "[file:line / test]"Outbound
PDM_TO_RANK_HANDOFF
PDM_TO_RANK_HANDOFF:
items_to_prioritize:
- feature: "[feature]"
status: "[Not-Started | In-Progress]"
plan_ref: "[ref]"
effort_hint: "[if observable from scope]"
reason: "Roadmap assembled; priority scoring is Rank's domain."PDM_TO_SHERPA_HANDOFF
PDM_TO_SHERPA_HANDOFF:
epic: "[epic/feature to decompose]"
current_state: "[Not-Started | In-Progress + what exists]"
plan_ref: "[ref]"
reason: "Static WBS view produced; atomic execution decomposition is Sherpa's domain."PDM_TO_ORBIT_HANDOFF
PDM_TO_ORBIT_HANDOFF:
loop_goals: # each item = exactly one Orbit loop goal
- objective: "[single deliverable sized to one loop]"
plan_ref: "[spec §ref / issue # / WBS leaf id]"
gap_evidence:
planned: "[planning source proving intent]"
code_coverage: "[file:line built so far OR 'no code found' + search coverage]"
status: "[Not-Started | In-Progress + what exists]"
out_of_scope: "[adjacent work this loop must NOT touch, if known]"
candidate_acs: "[OPTIONAL reconciled signals only — NOT authored ACs; Orbit hardens these into 3-6 measurable ACs]"
verification_hint: "[observed test/command, if any]"
reason: "Plan items sized to loop granularity; goal.md authoring + AC hardening is Orbit's domain (pdm is read-only)."PDM_TO_SCRIBE_HANDOFF
PDM_TO_SCRIBE_HANDOFF:
spec_gaps:
- feature: "[Undocumented or under-specified feature]"
code_evidence: "[file:line]"
reason: "Implemented without a spec; needs documentation."PDM_TO_CANVAS_HANDOFF
PDM_TO_CANVAS_HANDOFF:
artifact: "[Roadmap View | Status Matrix | WBS Tree]"
data: "[reconciled rows / tree]"
preferred_diagram: "[roadmap timeline | status heatmap | tree]"Routing Rules
| Outbound trigger | Route to | Never do instead |
|---|---|---|
| Items need priority order | Rank | Score them yourself |
| Epic needs execution steps | Sherpa | Decompose to atomic tasks yourself |
| Loop-sized work package needs a runner | Orbit | Author the goal.md / ACs yourself |
| Undocumented feature needs a spec | Scribe | Author the spec yourself |
| Gap could be a new feature idea | Spark | Ideate features yourself |
| Output needs a diagram | Canvas | Hand-draw beyond simple ASCII |
| Deep "how does it work" needed | Lens | Trace flows yourself |
Offer outbound handoffs as suggestions in the report; execute them only under Nexus AUTORUN or explicit user request.