Request handoff of an issue to another claimant Use when nothing native covers per-agent capability gating — Claude Code agents have file-system access by default. Pair claims_grant + claims_check before letting an agent run privileged ops. For trusted in-session work, no claims call is needed.
AI agents invoke claims_handoff to trigger actions in Claude Flow. What it does depends on the arguments the agent supplies, and its effects often reach beyond the immediate call — builds kicked off, notifications sent, workflows started.
This tool executes a control-flow decision that routes tasks to agents with different capability levels and permission scopes. While it doesn't directly modify data or delete resources, it orchestrates the transfer of control and execution authority to another agent, which is a form of operation execution.
From the tool's definition The tool performs a 'handoff of an issue to another claimant' and is explicitly described as a gating mechanism for 'privileged ops' that must be paired with claims_grant + claims_check.
Risk signalsAdmin/system-level operation
Attacks that exploit this kind of access
Request handoff of an issue to another claimant Use when nothing native covers per-agent capability gating — Claude Code agents have file-system access by default. Pair claims_grant + claims_check before letting an agent run privileged ops. For trusted in-session work, no claims call is needed. It is categorised as a Execute tool in the Claude Flow MCP Server, which means it can trigger actions or run processes. Use rate limits and argument validation.
Register the Claude Flow MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for claims_handoff: allow, deny, rate-limit, or require approval. Point your MCP client at the PolicyLayer proxy URL and the rule is enforced on every call, before it reaches Claude Flow. Nothing to install.
claims_handoff is a Execute tool with high risk. Execute tools should be rate-limited and have argument validation enabled.
Yes. Add a rate_limit block to the claims_handoff rule in your PolicyLayer policy. For example, setting max: 10 and window: 60 limits the tool to 10 calls per minute. Rate limits are tracked per agent session and reset automatically.
Set action: deny in the PolicyLayer policy for claims_handoff. The AI agent will receive a policy violation error and cannot call the tool. You can also include a reason field to explain why the tool is blocked.
claims_handoff is provided by the Claude Flow MCP server (claude-flow). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.