{
  "id": "handoff",
  "code": "PTL-0142",
  "term": "Handoff",
  "aliases": [
    "agent handoff",
    "agent transfer",
    "delegation"
  ],
  "category": "agents",
  "definition": "A handoff is the transfer of an ongoing task or conversation from one agent to another that specializes in it, typically implemented as a tool the first agent can call to delegate control.",
  "description": "Handoffs let a triage agent route users to, for example, a billing or technical support agent, each with its own instructions and tools. Unlike orchestrator-workers, where control returns to the orchestrator, a handoff passes control along. What context is passed with it decides whether the receiving agent can continue without asking again.",
  "example": null,
  "broader": [],
  "narrower": [],
  "related": [
    "routing",
    "orchestrator-workers",
    "multi-agent-system"
  ],
  "introduced": null,
  "added": "2026-10-10",
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "Handoffs",
      "authors": "OpenAI",
      "year": 2025,
      "url": "https://openai.github.io/openai-agents-python/handoffs/"
    }
  ],
  "url": "https://protologue.com/t/handoff/",
  "citation": "Protologue. (2026). Handoff. In Protologue: A Taxonomy of Prompting and LLM Techniques (v1.4.0, PTL-0142). https://protologue.com/t/handoff/"
}