Add self-coherent INTENT.md

Author the repository's INTENT: the cluster runtime layer — turning
hardened servers into a healthy, ready-to-use orchestration platform for
workloads, configured to a consistent baseline and proven healthy before
higher layers deploy onto it.

Kept self-coherent and reference-free: describes this repository's own
purpose at the abstract, stable level, with no external project or
dependency-product references.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 <noreply@anthropic.com>

INTENT.md

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+# INTENT
+
+> This file captures **why this repository exists**,
+> the **direction it is moving toward**, and
+> the **kind of system it is meant to become**.
+> It is intentionally **aspirational and stable**, not a description of current implementation.
+
+---
+
+## One-liner
+
+**The cluster runtime layer — turning hardened servers into a healthy, ready-to-use orchestration platform for workloads.**
+
+---
+
+## Why This Exists
+
+A hardened set of servers is not yet somewhere workloads can run.
+Something must install and configure the **orchestration runtime** — its
+scheduler, networking, ingress, admission controls, and the operators that
+extend it — and then **prove the cluster is healthy**.
+
+Without a disciplined runtime layer:
+
+* cluster configuration drifts between environments,
+* extension and addon boundaries blur,
+* and higher layers deploy onto an unproven runtime.
+
+This layer exists to provide that runtime **consistently and verifiably**,
+so the layers above can deploy onto a known-good cluster.
+
+---
+
+## The Mission
+
+> *Where we are going.*
+
+To become the **canonical home for the cluster runtime** — installation
+and baseline configuration of the orchestrator, its networking and
+ingress, admission controls, cluster-level operators and addons, and
+runtime access — operated to a **verified-healthy** standard.
+
+This means:
+
+* The runtime is configured to a **consistent baseline** every time
+* Cluster health is **proven by tests**, not assumed
+* Capabilities are extended through **operators and addons** behind clear
+  boundaries
+* Runtime **access is managed and rotatable**
+
+---
+
+## Core Principles
+
+### 1. Runtime, Not Workloads
+
+Provide the place where things run. Do not own the things that run there.
+
+### 2. Healthy by Verification
+
+Cluster health is demonstrated by smoke tests and checks, never assumed.
+
+### 3. Consistent Baseline
+
+The runtime is brought up the same way every time, so environments stay
+comparable and predictable.
+
+### 4. Built on a Verified Substrate
+
+Assumes a converged, hardened foundation beneath it; it does not reach
+down and reconfigure that foundation.
+
+### 5. Extensible by Operators
+
+Cluster capabilities are added through operators and addons within clear
+boundaries, not by ad-hoc mutation.
+
+### 6. Managed Access
+
+Access to the runtime is controlled, auditable, and rotatable.
+
+---
+
+## What This Is (Conceptually)
+
+This layer is:
+
+* a **cluster runtime** layer
+* an **orchestrator installation and configuration**
+* a **networking, ingress, and admission** baseline
+* a host for **cluster-level operators and addons**
+* a **health-verification gate**
+* **runtime access** management
+
+---
+
+## What This Is Not
+
+This layer is not:
+
+* the infrastructure substrate beneath it
+* a provider of shared, stateful platform services
+* an application or business-capability provider
+* an owner of the workloads it runs
+
+It is the **runtime an entire landscape's workloads depend on**.
+
+---
+
+## Direction of Evolution
+
+This layer is expected to evolve toward:
+
+* Stronger, continuous **health verification**
+* Smoother, safer **runtime upgrades**
+* Clearer **operator and addon** boundaries
+* More robust **access rotation**
+* Self-evidencing, **auditable** runtime state
+
+---
+
+## Guiding Question
+
+> **How can the runtime an entire landscape's workloads depend on be made consistently healthy, upgradable, and trustworthy?**