---
title: "Continue work on a workstation"
url: "https://docs.alisx.com/how-to/alis-build/continue-work-on-a-workstation/"
---
# Continue work on a workstation

Hand a running coding-agent session off from your laptop to an Alis workstation so it carries on after you close the lid, then bring it back.

## Prerequisites

- A workstation of your own in the build environment (`alis workstation list --json`; create one with `alis workstation create <org> --wait --json`).
- This laptop enrolled with it: `alis workstation enrol <id> --json`, or `alis workstation connect <id>`, which also saves it as a herdr machine.
- herdr 0.9.0 or later on the workstation, Git, matching agent versions on both machines, and the agent signed in on the workstation. herdr on the laptop is optional; its `prefix+t` and `prefix+u` shortcuts come from the Alis plugin (`alis herdr install`).
- A Claude Code or OpenCode session (native continuation). Codex and Antigravity need an explicit summary mode.

## Hand off

1. Check the targets:

    ```bash title="Terminal"
    alis workstation handoff targets --json
    ```

    The enrolled aliases have the form `alis-<organisation>-<workstation>`.

2. Hand off the session. In herdr, press `prefix+t` on the agent's pane; the pane then shows the workstation session. From the command line:

    ```bash title="Terminal"
    alis workstation handoff --session <agent-session-id> --to alis-<org>-<id> --json
    ```

    For Codex or Antigravity, add `--mode summary --instruction '<note>'`; this starts a new session there with continuation context rather than resuming the old one.

    The source pauses at a recoverable boundary. Scoped service and define changes are pushed as `handoff/<id>` commits; your branch, index and files stay intact. On the destination, isolated worktrees under `~/.alis/handoffs/<id>/alis.build` hold the work. Nothing is defined, built or deployed by the handoff itself.

3. Wait for the destination to acknowledge before closing the laptop:

    ```bash title="Terminal"
    alis workstation handoff status <handoff-id> --watch --json
    ```

    It streams `handoff.progress` lines and reports `safe_to_close` once the agent on the workstation has taken over. `waiting_for_input` after a trust prompt has been accepted is safe.

4. Open it later in the browser:

    ```bash title="Terminal"
    alis workstation handoff open <handoff-id>
    ```

## Bring it back

1. Reclaim. The workstation agent is stopped once idle, its scoped worktree changes are committed and pushed on `handoff/<id>`, and the conversation resumes on your laptop under `~/.alis/handoffs/<id>/reclaim/alis.build/<path>`, in a new tab of the product's herdr space or in this terminal:

    ```bash title="Terminal"
    alis workstation handoff reclaim <handoff-id> --wait --json
    ```

    `--wait` keeps asking for up to 30 minutes while the agent is mid-turn. If the agent is waiting at a prompt, attach and answer it instead. In herdr, `prefix+u` lists this laptop's handoffs; the row number brings one back.

2. Cancel a handoff you no longer want. The destination is confirmed stopped before the source is released:

    ```bash title="Terminal"
    alis workstation handoff cancel <handoff-id> --json
    ```

Live processes, credentials, ignored dependencies and global agent configuration are not transferred. Unknown local background work blocks a transfer.

Related: [alis workstation](https://docs.alisx.com/reference/cli/workstation.md), [alis herdr](https://docs.alisx.com/reference/cli/herdr.md).