diff --git a/.claude/skills/handover/SKILL.md b/.claude/skills/handover/SKILL.md
index 7d19077..22cabb3 100644
--- a/.claude/skills/handover/SKILL.md
+++ b/.claude/skills/handover/SKILL.md
@@ -135,6 +135,12 @@ refused.**
 
 1. **`fleet_handover{action: "open", reason: "<why now>"}`.** It returns a `token` and the
    `handoverPath` you must write to. Nothing has happened to your pane yet.
+
+   **Write to exactly that path, and do not resolve it yourself.** It is always absolute, even when
+   the operator configured a relative `handoverPath`: fleetd resolves a relative one against your
+   own workspace before it hands it to you. The daemon and your pane can run in different
+   directories, so a path you resolve yourself can point at a different file from the one the daemon
+   will check.
 2. **Write the handover file at that path**, following sections 1–10 above.
 3. **Ask the operator, then `fleet_handover{action: "confirm", token, operatorConfirmed: true}`.**
 
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 94bc52e..1aab090 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -19,3 +19,9 @@
 fleetd.out
 fleetd/fleetd.out
 logs/
+
+# fleetd #480: the lead rollover handover file. `leadRollover.handoverPath` points here, and the
+# outgoing lead rewrites it on every rollover. It is a snapshot of one moment's live state —
+# unpushed branches, running builds, open questions — so it is stale the moment it is written and
+# has no business in git history.
+.handover/