Agent Builders: Client Handoff Playbook (Handoff)
A handoff with 7 steps: Freeze the agent build and tag the exact version being handed over.
By InnovaAI ResearchPublished
What are the steps?
Agent Builders: Client Handoff Playbook (Handoff)
- 01
Freeze the agent build and tag the exact version being handed over
Record the model version, prompt or trait revision, tool-call list, and knowledge-source snapshot in one handoff document. Any change after this point starts a new version, not a silent edit.
- 02
Map every integration the agent touches to an owner on the client side
For each connected system (CRM, helpdesk, social scheduler, data warehouse), name the client contact who holds admin rights and the agency contact who holds the build rights. Shared logins are not an owner.
- 03
Walk the client through the failure modes before showing the happy path
Demonstrate what happens when a tool call fails, when the knowledge source returns nothing, and when the agent hits its escalation rule. Clients who see the failure path first ask better questions during the handoff call.
- 04
Transfer the test suite, not just the agent
Hand over the regression prompts, expected outputs, and pass thresholds used during QA. A client who can re-run the suite after a model update can tell whether the agent still works without calling the agency.
- 05
Set the review cadence and the kill switch in writing
Agree on who can pause the agent, how fast they can pause it, and what triggers a pause (a wrong answer to a client's customer, a data leak, a cost spike). Put the pause authority in the handoff document, not in a Slack thread.
- 06
Price the retainer around maintenance, not the build
The build is a one-time deliverable; the retainer covers model updates, prompt drift, integration breakage, and monthly review. Quote the maintenance scope separately so the client sees what they are paying to keep.
- 07
Schedule the 30-day post-handoff audit before the handoff call ends
Book the date, the attendees, and the metrics to review (escalation rate, tool-call failure rate, human-correction count). An audit with no date is a promise, not a process.