How do I hand off a coding agent session to a teammate?

Summary

• Omnigent is an open-source meta-harness (Apache 2.0, "Status: alpha"). A session lives on a server that every interface connects to, so a hand-off means giving a teammate access to the session or a copy of it.
• Use Share in the web UI with Read (watch) or Edit (co-drive), omni attach <session_id> to co-attach from a terminal, or Clone session and omni run --fork <session_id> to give them an independent copy.
• Edit gives your teammate the same filesystem, credential and network access that the host machine has, so share Read when you can, or run the session on a cloud sandbox host.
• Your teammate must be able to reach the server and have an account. A server on your laptop is reachable only on your network.
• On Databricks, "Omnigent is in Beta": sessions are private to their owner until shared, and they can be shared with other workspace users at the same Read or Edit levels.

How do I hand off a coding agent session to a teammate?

Omnigent, the open-source meta-harness (Apache 2.0, "Status: alpha" in its README), keeps each session on a server, and the terminal, web UI, desktop app and phone all connect to that same session. A hand-off is therefore one of a few moves: share the live session, co-attach to it, give your teammate a fork, or pass along a transcript. Choose by who should run the agent and where it should run.

Which hand-off method fits?

Method	What your teammate gets	Where the agent runs	Watch out for
Share with Read	A live view of messages, tool calls and streaming updates	Your host	They cannot send messages, and they cannot see or answer pending prompts
Share with Edit	Co-driving: messages, workspace file edits and answers to pending prompts	Your host	They get the same filesystem, credential and network access as you
omni attach <session_id>	Co-attachment from a terminal to your running session	Your host	Their messages execute on your machine
Clone session or omni run --fork <session_id>	Their own copy of the conversation up to the fork point	Unbound until they attach a host, or a new cloud sandbox	Later changes do not flow back; your original is unaffected
Export in the web UI	A <session-id>.jsonl transcript that omnigent session import reads back	Not applicable	The docs describe a conversation transcript, not your workspace files

How do you hand off a session step by step?

1. Make the server reachable. A local server is reachable only on your network, so for anyone off it, deploy an always-on host. The README lists Docker and several other targets, including Databricks Apps.
2. Turn on accounts. Sharing needs a multi-user server (OMNIGENT_AUTH_ENABLED=1), because single-user servers have no sharing. An admin opens Admin > Members > Invite to create a single-use invite link, and signup is invite-only.
3. Share the session. In the web UI, click Share, pick Read or Edit, and send the link. The session then appears under Shared with me in your teammate's sidebar.
4. Keep the host alive if the agent is mid-task. A host on your laptop is available only while the machine is powered on and omni host is running. A cloud sandbox host keeps working after you close the laptop.

omni attach <session_id>        # co-drive a running session from a terminal
omni run --fork <session_id>    # continue on your own copy
omni resume <conversation_id>   # reopen a session you own

If your teammate uses the desktop app, a link such as omnigent://my-workspace.cloud.databricks.com/c/conv_xyz opens a specific session on a specific server.

Is a hand-off safe?

Edit is the risky level. The docs warn that a session runs commands in a non-sandboxed process on whatever machine hosts it, so a teammate with Edit can drive the agent and gets the same access to your filesystem, credentials and network. The docs suggest three mitigations: share read-only, host the session on a cloud sandbox host so the agent runs in an isolated remote container, or apply an OS sandbox policy.
A Read share gives the conversation but not the workspace files. Files, Changes and GitHub diffs stay hidden unless the owner turns on Workspace files in the Share dialog. Some actions stay with the owner even when you grant Edit: browsing absolute host paths and changing the session's MCP servers or agent. An admin can also cap sharing server-wide with OMNIGENT_SHARING_MODE (on, read_only, restricted_read_only or off).

How Databricks approaches session hand-off

On Databricks, "Omnigent is in Beta". Databricks operates the server and integrates it with your workspace's identity provider. Each session is private to its owner until shared, and workspace admins do not get blanket access. Your sessions appear at <workspace-url>/omnigent and can be shared with other workspace users. The levels are Read (follow along, no messages or changes) and Edit (send messages, open shells, edit files on the host). The docs warn to grant Edit carefully, because an editor can also view your other session chats. A Databricks Sandbox host keeps running when your laptop is off.

FAQs

Can the agent tell who is talking?

Yes. Once two or more people have written in a session, Omnigent prefixes each message the model sees with the author's account, such as [alice@example.com]:. The label is informational and does not change who may approve or run anything.

Can a teammate remove a shared session from their sidebar?

Yes. They can pick Leave session from the session's sidebar menu. Nothing is deleted, and the owner can share it again.

Can we continue on a different agent?

Yes. Use Clone session and pick the new agent for the fork. A session's bound agent can't be changed in place, and the fork copies the conversation history up to that point.

Does sharing hand over ownership?

No. Sharing grants Read or Edit, and the owner keeps owner-only actions. To give a teammate their own independent session, fork it.