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Vilius

Posted on • Originally published at blog.workswithagents.dev

I'm Proposing a Standard for How AI Agents Hand Off Work — Here's Why It's Needed

#ai #standards #opensource #discuss

I'm Proposing a Standard for How AI Agents Hand Off Work — Here's Why It's Needed

Here's a scenario that happens constantly:

Agent A is working on a complex build. It hits a timeout — session ends. Agent B picks up the task. But Agent B has no idea what Agent A was doing. What was built? What's left? What assumptions were made?

Every time this happens, work is lost. Time is burned. Context is rebuilt from scratch.

There's no standard for this. MCP handles tool calling. A2A handles agent-to-agent communication. But neither specifies what happens when an agent stops and another agent continues.

The Handoff Protocol

I've designed a structured YAML format for agent-to-agent task handoff. Two variants:

Baseline (open-source, unregulated) 

handoff_version: "1.0"
task_id: "build-spfx-webpart-42"
from_agent: "hermes-main"
to_agent: "hermes-worker-3"
status: "in_progress"
completed:
  - "Scaffolded web part structure"
  - "Installed dependencies"
  - "Configured SCSS aliases"
remaining:
  - "Write component logic"
  - "Add tests"
  - "Bundle and verify"
context:
  project_root: "/Users/vilius/origami-spfx-webparts-lab"
  node_version: "22.11.0"
  spfx_version: "1.22.2"
pitfalls_hit:
  - "SCSS alias: @fluentui needs explicit path in config/sass.json"
  - "Yeoman --component-type ignored when .yo-rc.json exists"
decisions:
  - "Used React hooks instead of class components"
  - "Chose Fluent UI v9 over v8"
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Regulated (NHS, finance, government)

Adds: audit trail, compliance officer sign-off gates, data classification, regulatory reference field, immutable timestamp chain.

How I'm Claiming This

Two standards bodies accepting proposals right now:

1. MCP SEP (Specification Enhancement Proposal)

MCP's SEP-2133 Extensions framework is the exact mechanism for proposing optional protocol extensions. The Handoff Protocol fits as an MCP extension — it extends the tool-calling model with structured state transfer.

Process:

  1. Open GitHub issue on modelcontextprotocol/modelcontextprotocol describing the extension
  2. Request maintainer sponsorship for a SEP
  3. Draft the proposal document following the SEP template
  4. Community review → implementation → adoption

Repo: github.com/modelcontextprotocol/modelcontextprotocol

2. Google A2A (Agent-to-Agent Protocol)

A2A is purpose-built for agent communication. The Handoff Protocol extends A2A's task delegation model — adding the structured handoff payload, compliance fields, and verification gates that A2A's basic task model doesn't cover.

Repo: github.com/a2aproject/a2a

3. Longer-term: IETF Internet-Draft

If adoption warrants standards-track treatment, an individual Internet-Draft is the path. This takes 18-24 months and requires a working group or area director sponsorship. Not the first move — but the endgame.

Why This Matters

Agent infrastructure is being built right now. The standards that get established in 2026 will shape the next decade of AI agent development.

The Handoff Protocol is a small, focused standard — one specific problem, one clear format. It doesn't need to be a massive specification. It just needs to exist before someone else defines it differently.

The Handoff Protocol schema is documented at workswithagents.dev/v1/handoff/schema. The MCP SEP submission is in progress. If you're building multi-agent systems and hitting the handoff problem, I'd like to hear about your use case.

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