Wingspan Labs

Practical tool · Conversation guide

Agent Continuity Risk Checklist

A complete planning aid for AI-agent succession, handoffs, recovery, and closure.

Wingspan Labs Research & Development

Use the checklistDownload tagged PDF (1 page)

How to use it

Choose Yes, No, or Unknown for each question. Assign a person to resolve every No or Unknown before proceeding.

Successor
The current active agent.
Predecessor
The retired agent in custody.
Continuity event
One approved attempt to recover a specific missing input.

Your selections remain only in this browser page. They are not submitted, transmitted, or saved by Wingspan Labs. Reloading the page clears them.

1Identity and purpose

1We can identify the active owner, the archived predecessor, and the business purpose of each.
2The continuity request names one specific gap that current evidence cannot close.
3A human owner can approve or stop the continuity event.

2Sources and current state

4Approved source categories are named before recovery begins.
5Current documents, other approved records, and validated backups were checked first.
6The handoff distinguishes current, outdated, and unresolved information.
7Evidence shows its source and date; inference is clearly separate.

3Authority and exclusions

8The predecessor cannot take ordinary work, approve decisions, make changes, or act outside the recovery task.
9It can view only what the question requires, for a limited time and preferably without changing anything.
10Credentials, secrets, unnecessary personal data, and unauthorized protected material are excluded.
11We will stop unless the right predecessor, an unchanged archive, current sources, and allowed access can all be confirmed.

4Verification and receipt

12The successor checks recovered claims against current approved sources.
13Conflicts and unresolved gaps remain visible rather than being silently merged.
14The receiver records whether the bounded handoff was usable and what remains unresolved.
15Higher-risk continuity work receives an independent human review.

5Closure and retirement

16The recovery event has a defined end time and a named person responsible for closing it.
17The recovery event is explicitly closed and the predecessor returns to archive.
18Qualified owners separately handle retention, deletion, legal-hold, privacy, and records duties.
Download the printable tagged PDF

Pause gate

Do not reactivate unless the essential controls are confirmed.

Confirm the right archived predecessor, an unchanged archive, current-source checks, allowed access, and a safe place for the narrow review. If any answer remains No or Unknown, pause and assign an owner before continuing.

Next step

Map the unresolved dependencies.

Use the No and Unknown answers to identify handoff gaps, evidence needs, authority questions, and closure responsibilities. Qualified owners should separately address legal, security, privacy, retention, and records obligations.

Read the complete position paperDiscuss agent continuity