A refund specialist by handoff

A handoff is a tool call that passes the whole conversation to another agent, so a refund is handed to a specialist agent and the run continues there.

Last updated: 28 Sep, 2026 · openai-agents 0.22.3

The desk from The desk agent and its tools answers order questions. A refund is a different job, so it belongs to a different agent. Handoffs, from the lesson on Handoffs: passing control to another agent, move the run there.

The pieces, and where each came from

The refund specialist

The specialist is a second Agent. It only handles refunds, so its instructions say so.

refund = Agent(
    name="Refund specialist",
    instructions="Handle refund requests.",
    model=ShopModel(),
)

The desk that can hand off

The desk lists the specialist in handoffs. That turns the specialist into a transfer target the model can pick.

desk = Agent(
    name="Shop desk",
    instructions="Help shoppers; send refunds to the specialist.",
    tools=[lookup_order],
    handoffs=[refund],   # the desk may transfer to this agent
    model=ShopModel(),
)

Reading who answered

After the run, result.last_agent is whichever agent produced the final answer.

result = Runner.run_sync(desk, "I want a refund")
print("Answered by:", result.last_agent.name)
print("Reply:", result.final_output)

The desk handing a refund to the specialist

The desk starts the run, the word refund triggers the transfer, and the specialist finishes it.

from agents import Agent, Runner, function_tool, set_tracing_disabled
from shop_model import ShopModel
set_tracing_disabled(True)

@function_tool
def lookup_order(order_id: str) -> str:
    "Look up an order by its id."
    return f"Order {order_id}: shipped on 3 March, arriving 7 March."

refund = Agent(
    name="Refund specialist",
    instructions="Handle refund requests.",
    model=ShopModel(),
)
desk = Agent(
    name="Shop desk",
    instructions="Help shoppers; send refunds to the specialist.",
    tools=[lookup_order],
    handoffs=[refund],
    model=ShopModel(),
)
result = Runner.run_sync(desk, "I want a refund")
print("Answered by:", result.last_agent.name)
print("Reply:", result.final_output)

What the handoff produced

• The stand-in saw the word refund and returned a call to the specialist's transfer tool rather than a reply.
• result.last_agent.name is Refund specialist, so control moved off the desk for the rest of the run.
• The reply was composed by the specialist after the transfer, from its own refund instructions, so it reads as a refund answer and not as the desk's; Swapping in a real model puts a real model behind the same specialist.

Handoff vs one agent for everything

When to hand off

• A task with its own rules or tools, a refund, a cancellation, a fraud check, is cleaner as a separate agent.
• You want the transcript to show which agent handled a request.

Related

• Previous: The desk agent and its tools
• Next: Guarding the desk's input and output
• Reference: Handoffs