Rule
Brief each agent with a compiled packet: the task, the constraints, the relevant files, the proof command. The packet — not the running transcript — is the interface between units of work.
A transcript accumulates; a packet is compiled. When work moves from one agent to another, what crosses the boundary is a deliberate summary of what matters, not the raw history of how it went. Every sub-agent is, first, a compressor: it turns a long exploration into a short brief the next window can afford to load.
What AgentOps Enforces
- Start every unit of work from a compiled brief: task, boundary, relevant files, constraints, validation path.
- Hand work between agents as packets — findings, decisions, open questions — never as raw transcripts.
- Keep unrelated history, broad docs, stale assumptions, and speculative plans out of the window.
- Recompile the brief when the task changes instead of dragging the old session forward.
Failure Signal
- A handoff pastes the whole conversation because nobody decided what mattered.
- The agent repeats itself, ignores recent instructions, or asks for information it already saw.
- The answer sounds plausible but cannot point to files, commands, or evidence.
- The session keeps growing because nobody knows what can be removed.
Done Looks Like
The agent can state the task, the boundary, the relevant files, the proof command, and the next action from a brief that fits on one screen — and the next agent could start from that same brief.