Add self-coherent INTENT.md

Author the repository's INTENT: the shared platform-services layer — the
dependable, backed-up, secure foundation of stateful services (data,
cache, secret custody, object storage, messaging) that consumers build on,
behind stable interfaces and independently evolvable underneath.

Intent is kept self-coherent and reference-free (no external project or
dependency-product references), describing this repository's own purpose
at the abstract, stable level.

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

INTENT.md

@@ -0,0 +1,128 @@
+# 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 shared platform-services layer — the dependable foundation of stateful services (data, cache, secrets, object storage, messaging) that everything else builds on.**
+
+---
+
+## Why This Exists
+
+Applications should not each reinvent, operate, and secure their own
+databases, caches, secret stores, object storage, and message brokers.
+
+When every application carries its own copy of these services, the result
+is:
+
+* duplicated operational burden,
+* inconsistent durability and backup guarantees,
+* and a sprawling, hard-to-secure surface.
+
+This layer exists to provide those stateful services **once, operably, and
+consistently**, so that everything built above it can assume a reliable,
+backed-up, secure substrate instead of building one each time.
+
+---
+
+## The Mission
+
+> *Where we are going.*
+
+To become the **canonical home for shared, stateful platform services** —
+where data persistence, caching, secret custody, object storage,
+messaging, and their backup and recovery are provided as well-operated,
+independently evolvable services behind stable interfaces.
+
+This means:
+
+* Stateful services are operated to clear **durability, availability, and
+  recovery** guarantees
+* Secret material has a **dependable custody and delivery** mechanism
+* Consumers depend on **stable service interfaces**, not on internal topology
+* The layer can **evolve** — operators, engines, versions, topologies —
+  without breaking what is built on it
+
+---
+
+## Core Principles
+
+### 1. Shared, Not Duplicated
+
+Provide each stateful service once and well, rather than letting every
+application carry and operate its own.
+
+### 2. Stable Interfaces over Internal Detail
+
+Consumers bind to service contracts. The operators, engines, and
+topologies behind those contracts can change underneath without forcing
+changes above.
+
+### 3. Durable by Default
+
+Persistence, backup, and **tested** recovery are part of providing a
+service — not an afterthought added later.
+
+### 4. Secure Custody
+
+Secret material is held and delivered through a dependable authority,
+never scattered across the consumers that need it.
+
+### 5. Operable and Observable
+
+Every service is monitored, recoverable, and diagnosable as a first-class
+property.
+
+### 6. Independently Evolvable
+
+The layer can adopt new operators or engines, and migrate between them,
+without forcing rewrites in the things that depend on it.
+
+---
+
+## What This Is (Conceptually)
+
+This layer is:
+
+* a **shared platform-services layer**
+* a dependable **substrate of stateful infrastructure**
+* a **custody and delivery point** for secret material
+* a **backup and recovery home** for platform data
+* a **stable interface surface** for the services consumers depend on
+
+---
+
+## What This Is Not
+
+This layer is not:
+
+* an application or business-capability provider
+* the infrastructure or cluster runtime beneath it
+* an identity or authorization authority
+* a place for application-specific logic
+
+It is the **stateful foundation** that other systems rely on.
+
+---
+
+## Direction of Evolution
+
+This layer is expected to evolve toward:
+
+* **Consolidation** of stateful services behind well-operated operators
+* Stronger **durability, backup, and disaster-recovery** guarantees
+* Dependable **runtime secret custody and delivery**
+* Clear, **versioned service interfaces** for consumers
+* **Self-healing and observable** platform services
+
+---
+
+## Guiding Question
+
+> **How can the stateful foundation an entire landscape relies on be made dependable, secure, and recoverable — while remaining free to evolve underneath everything built on it?**