Repurpose as the Railiance bootstrap path

This repo carried a copied declaration identifying it as the S2 cluster runtime
layer - byte-similar to railiance-cluster, with which it shares no git history
but nearly all of its content. It was one of four repos (bootstrap, cluster,
hosts, infra) created by copying working trees as the S1/S2 layering idea
emerged, and the INTENT was copied along with everything else.

Its own QUICKSTART.md - set up your very first Railiance host - describes what
the repo is actually for. INTENT.md and SCOPE.md now declare that: turning a
single bare virtual machine into a working Railiance, then handing off to the
ordinary layers.

Inherited S2-era content in ansible/, helm/, docs/ and wiki/ is not yet sorted;
SCOPE records that restructuring is in progress rather than claiming it is done.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

INTENT.md

@@ -9,25 +9,31 @@
 
 ## One-liner
 
-**The cluster runtime layer — turning hardened servers into a healthy, ready-to-use orchestration platform for workloads.**
+**The bootstrap path — turning a single bare virtual machine into a working Railiance, so that standing up a new Railiance is a repeatable procedure rather than an act of memory.**
 
 ---
 
 ## 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**.
+Railiance's layers each describe how to operate a system that **already
+exists**. S1 converges a substrate, S2 runs a cluster on it, S3 provides shared
+services, and so on. Every one of them assumes the thing beneath it is already
+there.
 
-Without a disciplined runtime layer:
+Nothing owns the first step: *you have one virtual machine and an intention —
+now what?*
 
-* cluster configuration drifts between environments,
-* extension and addon boundaries blur,
-* and higher layers deploy onto an unproven runtime.
+Without a bootstrap path:
 
-This layer exists to provide that runtime **consistently and verifiably**,
-so the layers above can deploy onto a known-good cluster.
+* standing up a new Railiance depends on the memory of whoever did it last,
+* the ordering between substrate, cluster, secrets, and forge is rediscovered
+  each time,
+* the chicken-and-egg problems (secrets needed to fetch the code that manages
+  secrets) are solved ad hoc and differently each time,
+* and "Railiance is easy to adopt" stays an aspiration nobody can test.
+
+This repo exists so that a new Railiance can be **initiated from nothing**, by
+someone who was not present when the first one was built.
 
 ---
 
@@ -35,75 +41,78 @@ so the layers above can deploy onto a known-good cluster.
 
 > *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.
+To become the **canonical entry point into Railiance** — the one repository a
+newcomer clones to turn a bare machine into a Railiance that can then manage
+itself through the ordinary layers.
 
 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**
+* The path from **one VM to a working Railiance** is a documented, runnable
+  sequence
+* **Ordering and prerequisites** between layers are explicit, not folklore
+* Bootstrap **chicken-and-egg problems** are named and solved deliberately
+* The procedure is **testable** — a new Railiance can be raised from scratch to
+  prove the path still works
+* Once bootstrapped, the system **hands off** to the ordinary layers and this
+  repo steps out of the way
 
 ---
 
 ## Core Principles
 
-### 1. Runtime, Not Workloads
+### 1. From Nothing, Repeatably
 
-Provide the place where things run. Do not own the things that run there.
+The path assumes no pre-existing Railiance, no prepared secrets, and no
+institutional memory. If a step depends on something that already exists, that
+dependency is stated.
 
-### 2. Healthy by Verification
+### 2. Hand Off, Do Not Hold
 
-Cluster health is demonstrated by smoke tests and checks, never assumed.
+This repo raises a Railiance and then yields. Ongoing operation belongs to S1–S5.
+Anything this repo keeps operating is a boundary violation.
 
-### 3. Consistent Baseline
+### 3. The Path Is Tested by Walking It
 
-The runtime is brought up the same way every time, so environments stay
-comparable and predictable.
+A bootstrap procedure that has not been run from scratch recently is a
+hypothesis. Proving it means raising a new Railiance, not reviewing the
+document.
 
-### 4. Built on a Verified Substrate
+### 4. Honest About Manual Steps
 
-Assumes a converged, hardened foundation beneath it; it does not reach
-down and reconfigure that foundation.
+Some bootstrap steps genuinely require a human — provisioning a machine,
+entering a root credential. These are named as such rather than hidden behind
+automation that pretends otherwise.
 
-### 5. Extensible by Operators
+### 5. Adoption Is the Point
 
-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.
+Ease of initiation is a Railiance goal, not a convenience. A Railiance that only
+its author can stand up is not a framework.
 
 ---
 
 ## What This Is (Conceptually)
 
-This layer is:
+The **ignition sequence** for a Railiance:
 
-* 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
+* the newcomer quickstart and its prerequisites
+* the ordering contract between substrate, cluster, secrets, and forge
+* bootstrap secret material handling, and how it is replaced by the real custody
+  path once one exists
+* the handoff point where the ordinary layers take over
+* a test that the whole path still works
 
 ---
 
 ## 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**.
+* **Not the cluster runtime.** k3s, Helm, ingress, CNI, operators and kubeconfig
+  management belong to `railiance-cluster` (S2). This repo previously declared
+  itself S2 — that was a copied declaration, not an intent.
+* **Not the infrastructure substrate.** OS provisioning, hardening and baseline
+  belong to `railiance-infra` (S1).
+* **Not a second home for layer content.** It sequences the layers; it does not
+  duplicate what they own.
+* **Not an ongoing operations repo.** After handoff, it has no running role.
 
 ---
 
@@ -111,14 +120,33 @@ It is the **runtime an entire landscape's workloads depend on**.
 
 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
+* A **single documented path** from bare VM to working Railiance
+* Explicit **prerequisite and ordering** contracts with S1 and S2
+* Deliberate handling of **bootstrap secret material** and its retirement
+* A **rehearsable** bootstrap — proven by raising a fresh Railiance, not by review
+* Reduced manual steps over time, with the remaining ones **named honestly**
+* Eventually, bootstrapping onto **substrates other than the current one**
+  without changing the model
+
+---
+
+## History
+
+This repository previously carried a copied declaration identifying it as the
+S2 cluster runtime layer — identical in intent to `railiance-cluster`, with
+which it shares no git history but nearly all of its content. It was one of four
+repos (`bootstrap`, `cluster`, `hosts`, `infra`) created by copying working
+trees as the S1/S2 layering idea emerged.
+
+That declaration was wrong. The repository's own `QUICKSTART.md` — *"set up your
+very first Railiance host"* — describes what this repo is actually for, and this
+INTENT now states it.
+
+See `railiance-platform/ArchitectureBlueprint.md` §4 for the full lineage and
+`history/2026-08-11-railiance-architecture-in-aspiration.md` for the assessment.
 
 ---
 
 ## Guiding Question
 
-> **How can the runtime an entire landscape's workloads depend on be made consistently healthy, upgradable, and trustworthy?**
+> *Could someone who was not there raise a new Railiance from this?*