Goal: enable another authorized researcher to reproduce, continue, and archive the project without your personal machine or chat history.
Prerequisites: the project's code, environment, storage, and information owner are known.
Execution context: work in the project repository and approved storage. Do not copy secrets into the handover packet.
Required Handover Packet#
Project purpose and owner:
Repository and default branch:
Setup/environment command:
Test or smoke command:
Representative run command:
Source-data owner and location:
Working-data location:
Final results and checkpoints:
Temporary data safe to delete:
Access groups/services:
Known limitations and failed approaches:
AI assistance/disclosure requirements:
Retention and next review date:
Reproduction Check#
Ask another authorized person, or use a clean environment, to:
- clone the repository;
- create the declared environment;
- run tests or a small smoke check;
- locate approved data without receiving a secret in chat;
- identify the command and resources for a representative run;
- locate final results and understand which outputs are authoritative.
Record failures as documentation defects and fix the instructions.
Access Cleanup#
The supervisor or system owner decides which access remains. Revoke temporary tokens, remove obsolete guest/collaborator access, transfer service ownership, and preserve only credentials through approved ownership mechanisms. Never hand over a personal password or private key.
Verification#
- Repository status is clean and required commits are pushed.
- Tests/smoke check run from declared setup.
- Durable and temporary storage are explicitly distinguished.
- The next owner can find artifacts without personal-path assumptions.
- No secret appears in documentation or history.
Common Failures And Safe Recovery#
- Only one environment works: recreate it from declarations and document missing system dependencies.
- Results depend on an unknown checkpoint: identify provenance before claiming reproducibility.
- Data exists only in personal or temporary storage: transfer and verify it with the information owner.
Understand Before Accepting AI Output#
- Another person performed or reviewed the reproduction check.
- The agent did not invent commands, paths, results, or access rights.
- I can explain which artifacts are authoritative.
- Personal credentials are not part of the handover.
Evidence#
Submit the completed packet, the reproduction result, and reviewer identity.
Ask For Help When#
Ownership is disputed, required data cannot be located, an external account is personal-only, or access cannot be transferred safely.