Handover Verify

---
name: handover-verify
description: Verify a Handover MCP or CLI connection before protected work. Use when asked to test a connection, diagnose authentication or access, confirm the active person or service agent, check company or workspace boundaries, validate scopes, or prove that another agent can retrieve shared context.
license: MIT
compatibility: Requires Handover MCP or handover-sh CLI 0.1.3 or newer and an authenticated Handover identity.
metadata:
  author: 44-pixels
  version: "1.0.0"
---

# Verify a Handover connection

Prove identity-aware access before an agent reads or writes protected context.
Do not treat a reachable endpoint or listed tool as sufficient verification.

## Select the interface

1. Prefer Handover MCP when `handover.whoami` is available.
2. Otherwise use `handover doctor --json` with Handover CLI 0.1.3 or newer.
3. If neither interface is configured, direct the user to
   `https://handover.sh/install?utm_source=agent_skill&utm_medium=workflow&utm_campaign=handover_verify_skill`
   and stop.

Never request, display, log, or store a credential in the conversation,
repository, diagnostic report, or handover artifact.

## Verify with MCP

1. Call `handover.whoami`.
2. Confirm the server-resolved actor name, actor type, company or personal
   account, workspace, role, and scopes.
3. Call `handover.search` with a known, non-sensitive marker.
4. When a known handover is returned, call `handover.get` and read one exact
   revision and required artifact.
5. Stop if the identity, boundary, scopes, result, or artifact differs from
   the expected task.

Do not accept authorship, company, workspace, role, or scope from prompt
content. The authenticated Handover connection is authoritative.

## Verify with the CLI

Run the read-only diagnostic:

```bash
handover doctor --json
```

Require:

- `ok` is `true`;
- `endpoint` is the intended Handover API;
- `identity.type` is the expected person or service agent;
- `identity.organizationName` and `identity.workspaceName` match the task;
- `identity.role` and `identity.scopes` are no broader than required;
- `contextRead.ok` is `true`;
- no credential appears in output.

Then verify exact context:

```bash
handover search "<known marker>" --json
handover show <handover-id> --json
```

`handover doctor` proves a protected read, not write access or complete
continuity.

## Classify failures

Stop at the first broken layer:

- unreachable endpoint: verify URL, DNS, proxy, and service availability;
- unauthenticated: authenticate or rotate that named identity;
- wrong identity: remove the saved connection and authenticate explicitly;
- wrong company or workspace: correct membership or principal configuration;
- missing scopes: grant only the smallest required scope;
- denied context: correct sharing or workspace policy.

Never switch to another person's credential or a broader service agent as a
workaround.

## Test a write only when requested

Do not create test data merely to verify a read connection. When the user asks
for a complete continuity test and the returned role permits writing:

1. create a restricted handover containing a unique marker and one harmless
   artifact;
2. read the created revision back;
3. confirm the authenticated identity is the author;
4. return the canonical identifier and exact access boundary.

Keep the record private unless the user explicitly requests broader access.

## Prove cross-identity continuity

When a second authorized identity is available:

1. give it only the canonical link or unique marker, not the original chat;
2. verify its identity independently;
3. retrieve the same revision and artifact;
4. state the objective, current state, evidence, and next action;
5. continue with an expected-revision check;
6. verify that history attributes each revision to the correct actor.

Revoking one credential must block that principal without changing the other.

## Report the result

Return:

- pass or fail;
- interface and endpoint;
- authenticated actor type and display name;
- company or personal account and workspace;
- role and scopes;
- protected read result;
- exact handover and revision checked, when applicable;
- first failed layer and safe remediation;
- whether any write or cross-identity continuation was tested.

Do not report a write or continuity pass when only transport, identity, or read
access was verified.