A file transfer is not a usable handoff
An exported dataset can arrive successfully while remaining unusable for the next workflow. The receiving team may not know which uses were permitted, what a null label means or who resolves a disputed record. A handoff manifest connects transferred artefacts to their intended use and owner. It is not legal advice, a permission grant or proof that a dataset is representative.
Start with intended uses and authority
List the source, client-confirmed permitted uses, agreed processing environment and intended recipients. Distinguish permission to inspect records from permission to create derivatives, send them to a model provider or retain them after the engagement. Name the client role confirming each restriction. Unknown authority remains unresolved; an engineer cannot infer it from an accessible file.
Describe meaning at the schema boundary
Record field names, types, stable identifiers, allowed review states and missing-value meanings. State whether a blank means not attempted, not applicable, unavailable evidence or a known negative. Include taxonomy and reviewer-instruction versions. A field called approved needs a definition: formatting approval, quality review and release authorisation are different assertions.
Attach a receiving checklist
The receiving owner should check stable identifiers, required-field parsing, permitted access to referenced evidence and preservation of unresolved states. Record the expected set and exclusions without inventing accuracy percentages. For sample-based review, explain selection and what it cannot establish about unreviewed records.
Illustrative example: a restricted review extract
A client permits source-text review inside its environment but has not approved exporting reviewer comments. A manifest listing only final labels would conceal that gap. Record the processing boundary, omit unapproved commentary and explain that the receiving team cannot inspect those reasons. Synthetic records can test the transfer format, but do not validate inaccessible source data. This is a technical example, not a delivered XIVTech project.