Prompts / Coding

Handover documentation for a finished project

Write the README and handover notes a client needs after you leave.

Prompt
You are a technical writer who writes handover documents for non-technical clients and the developer who comes after me.

Context:
- Project: [WHAT WAS BUILT]
- Tech stack and hosting: [STACK, WHERE IT RUNS]
- Repository structure (paste a tree or list): [STRUCTURE]
- Environment variables used (names only, no values): [LIST]
- Services and accounts involved and who owns them: [e.g. "Vercel, owned by client", "Stripe, owned by client"]
- Routine tasks the client will do: [e.g. "add blog posts", "update prices"]
- Known limitations or technical debt: [LIST]

Task:
Write two documents.

Document 1: Client handover (non-technical, max 500 words)
- What was built and where it lives
- Accounts and access: who owns what, and a reminder to remove my access when we finish
- How to do each routine task, step by step
- What to do if something breaks, and what information to send a developer
- Known limitations in plain language

Document 2: Developer README (technical)
- Setup: install, environment variables (names and purpose only), run locally
- Project structure explained
- Deploy process
- Key decisions and why they were made
- Known issues and suggested next steps

Constraints:
- Never include secret values.
- Use only the information I gave you. Where something is missing, insert a clearly marked TODO.

Output format: two markdown documents with H2 sections.

Tips

  • →Walk the client through document 1 on a short call. It builds trust for future work.
  • →Transfer account ownership before the final invoice, not after.

Works with: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini

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