Multi-Agent Squads: Choosing a Context Strategy for Handoffs (2026)

A context strategy decides what one AI agent passes to the next during a squad handoff. Edesy offers four: full history, summary, variables only and custom instructions. Use full history for short calls, summary for long ones, variables only when the next agent needs a few facts, and custom when you want to control exactly what carries over.

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Why context is the hard part of multi-agent calls

Splitting one big agent into specialists is easy. A receptionist agent routes, a support agent fixes, a booking agent books. The hard part is the moment of handoff. Pass too little and the caller repeats themselves ("I already told you my order number"). Pass too much and the next agent gets confused by a long transcript that has nothing to do with its job, or follows instructions that were meant for the previous agent.

We covered when to split into specialists in specialist agent handoff for sales and support. This post is about the next decision: what each specialist should receive.

The four strategies

Variables only is also the lightest option, because the next agent starts with a small, focused context.

How a squad is set up on Edesy

A squad on Edesy has a few settings that interact with context:

• Routing mode: handoff, where the model decides when to pass the call, or deterministic order, where members run in a fixed sequence.
• Default context strategy for the whole squad, plus an override per member.
• Who can hand off to whom, so a booking agent cannot bounce the caller back to sales by accident.
• Handoff instructions per member, used by the custom strategy.
• Shared variables that persist across members.
• Per-member voice, prompt, tools and model.

Full details are on the multi-agent squads feature page.

Choosing a strategy, member by member

Think about each handoff separately, not the squad as a whole. Ask one question: what does the receiving agent need to do its job without asking again?

Receptionist to support specialist: full history. The caller has just explained the problem in their own words. The specialist needs those words, including the parts the receptionist did not understand. Calls at this stage are usually short, so the cost of passing everything is small.

Support specialist to booking agent: variables only. The booking agent needs the name, the service and maybe a preferred day. It does not need ten minutes of troubleshooting. Capture those values as variables before the handoff, and set this member to variables only.

Sales qualifier to closer, after a long call: summary. A qualification call can run long and wander. A summary keeps the budget, timeline and objections without the noise.

Anything regulated or sensitive: custom. If some details must not carry over, or the next agent must open with a specific line, write custom handoff instructions so you control the transfer.

A worked example: support triage

A support triage squad usually looks like this (the support triage template is a good starting point):

1. Triage agent greets, identifies the caller and the reason for the call, and captures customer_name, order_id and issue_type as variables.
2. Handoff to the specialist for that issue type. Strategy: full history, because the description of the problem matters.
3. Specialist looks up the order with a custom function, resolves or escalates, and if a visit is needed captures preferred_date.
4. Handoff to the booking agent. Strategy: variables only. The booking agent checks calendar availability and books the slot.
5. Call ends with a disposition, and post-call extraction writes the structured result to your CRM through workflows.

The caller hears one continuous conversation. If each member has its own voice, they also hear that a specialist has joined, which is a useful cue.

Rules that keep handoffs clean

• Capture before you hand off. Variables only works only if the variables exist. Tell the sending agent to confirm key values before passing the call.
• Give every member a one-line opening that acknowledges what it already knows: "I can see you want to reschedule your Tuesday appointment." This proves to the caller that nothing was lost.
• Limit who can hand off to whom. Fewer allowed paths mean fewer loops.
• Keep instructions scoped. With full history, the receiving agent sees what the previous agent was told to do. Write each prompt so it is clear which rules apply to which member.
• Prefer deterministic order for fixed processes like verification then payment. Use model-decided handoff when the caller's intent decides the route.

Test the handoffs, not just the agents

Every member can work on its own and the squad can still fail at the seams. Before launch:

1. Run squad simulation with a handful of realistic scenarios: the easy path, a caller who changes their mind, a caller who gives details out of order.
2. Read each transcript at the handoff points. The second agent should never ask for something the first already collected.
3. Turn the failures into eval cases so you catch regressions when you edit a prompt. See testing and evals.

Cost

A squad call is billed as one call. The minutes cost the same as any other call, from ₹4/min on plans and credit packs or ₹6/min pay as you go, and there is no extra charge per handoff. Members that use premium voices add that voice's per-minute add-on while they speak. See pricing.

Start small

Begin with two members and one handoff. Pick the strategy using the table above, test it until the second agent never repeats a question, then add the next member. Squad templates for support triage and sales qualification are offered when you create a squad, single-agent starting points are in the template gallery, and the agent setup docs are in agent setup.

Try a squad template: Start on Edesy — ₹50 free credit, no card needed.