---
title: "Lab: review a diff and prepare a handoff Docs"
source: https://docs.autohand.ai/tutorials/learning-paths/review-and-handoff
---

# Lab: review a diff and prepare a handoff

In this lab you will review the task-list repair and filtering feature, then prepare a handoff for a fresh session. A useful review identifies concrete defects against the chosen contract. A useful handoff records current state, verified behavior, and remaining work without requiring the next reader to replay your conversation.

## Before you start

Complete [add a feature](https://docs.autohand.ai/tutorials/learning-paths/add-a-feature). Keep the starter baseline commit available and run `npm test` once before review. Estimated time: 20–25 minutes. If you committed intermediate work, identify the starter commit explicitly when requesting the full diff.

## 1\. Define the review boundary

```bash
git log --oneline
git status --short
git diff -- src/tasks.js test/tasks.test.js

```

The last command shows uncommitted edits. If you committed those edits, use your actual starter commit with `git diff STARTER_COMMIT -- src/tasks.js test/tasks.test.js`, replacing the placeholder. Verify the diff includes both the repair and filtering feature.

## 2\. Request evidence-based review

Enable `/plan on` and submit the following prompt with the correct baseline:

```text
Review src/tasks.js and test/tasks.test.js against the starter baseline.
Check the completeTask and filterTasks contracts from the labs.
For each defect, give the file, triggering input, expected behavior,
actual behavior, and a test that would demonstrate it.
Separate correctness defects from optional style suggestions.
Do not edit files. If no defect is found, list the checks performed
and important cases that remain untested.

```

Open the cited lines and reproduce each suspected defect. A suggestion to rename a local variable is not automatically a correctness issue. A finding without a trigger may need further investigation before you change code.

## 3\. Resolve confirmed defects

Switch out of plan mode only when you have confirmed a defect and decided on the repair. Ask for the focused fix and regression test. Then rerun `npm test`, `npm run check`, and `git diff --check`. Record what the checks establish and any uncertainty that remains.

## 4\. Write and verify a handoff

```text
Write HANDOFF.md describing the task-list project and completed labs.
Include the API contracts, files changed, baseline commit, actual
validation commands and results, and the next lab: automate a check.
Label any unfinished work. Do not claim deployment or remote checks.

```

Read the handoff and correct any invented result. Start a fresh session in the same directory and ask it to read the file, inspect Git state, and explain the next action before editing. The new session should recognize that repair and filtering are already implemented.

## Troubleshooting

If the reviewer sees an empty diff, verify the baseline and whether edits were committed. If the handoff says only “everything works,” ask for named contracts and actual commands. If the fresh session repeats completed work, point it at the existing exports and tests and ask it to compare them with the acceptance criteria.

## Checkpoint and independent exercise

Another session can identify the next step and distinguish verified behavior from unfinished work. Write one additional review question about an assumption the labs deliberately excluded, such as duplicate IDs. Continue with [automate a validation check](https://docs.autohand.ai/tutorials/learning-paths/automate-a-check).