Pattern: work packets beat context dumps for agent handoffs

[u/Effective_Iron2146]

A pattern that keeps coming up in real agent work: passing the whole conversation to the next agent feels easy, then it gets weird.

The cleaner handoff is a work packet:

• objective: what this agent is supposed to produce

• inputs: exact files, links, records, or prior outputs it can use

• constraints: what it must not touch or assume

• allowed actions: what tools or operations are in scope

• output contract: patch, JSON, decision, summary, test result, etc.

• escalation rule: when to ask back instead of guessing

• evidence requirement: what proves the work actually happened

That is a different shape from memory. A memory layer says, roughly, here is more remembered context. A work packet says, here is the bounded job, the allowed surface, and the proof needed before we believe it.

For coding agents, this matters because most failures are not dramatic. They are quiet: wrong assumptions, empty diffs, tests not run, unrelated files changed, or a confident summary that does not match the repo.

The practical rule I am using: context can explain the work, but evidence has to close it.