What it means
A worker starts from what must become true, not from an edit. A task that says which issue it executes, or which intent it serves, is handed that intent in its briefing: the statement, the invariants, the criteria this work serves with the state of their evidence, the critique of the plan and the recorded gap. Nobody copies an intent into a prompt.
The briefing is read from the intent engine every time it is printed. The task record keeps only what the worker named and two hashes; no stage, verdict or criterion is stored in a task, a session or a handover (ADR 0111, rule project.an-intent-outlives-its-sessions).
How it works
majordomus start "<task>" --scope <paths> --issue <id> asks the intents.binding capability what the task serves before it writes anything. The answer's standing is bound, maintenance, exempt or refused; a refused answer to a question the worker put does not start. The record carries issue (or intent, or exemption with its reason), the standing start was told, and two pins: plan_revision and evidence_standing.
majordomus context asks the binding again and prints an INTENT section after PROFILE. Under a tight budget the section loses its gap conditions first and is never dropped whole. When the executable cannot be reached the section says standing unknown and names what was asked for, because "no intent" and "nobody could ask" are different answers.
majordomus handover writes what the task named and the two pins into the record's front matter. majordomus handover --resolve asks the binding once more and prints an Intent: line: unchanged, evidence_moved when a served criterion changed evidence state, plan_changed when the intent, a link or its critique was edited, or unknown when it cannot ask.
How to see it
majordomus-cli intent binding --issue <id> # what a task naming that issue is bound totest/cases/960_a_task_starts_bound_to_what_it_serves.sh starts a bound task and reads its context; test/cases/961_a_resumed_task_is_told_its_intent_moved.sh edits a criterion, a critique and the evidence between a handover and its resolution.
What it does not cover
A task that names nothing is briefed with no intent: under policy intent.binding: off nothing asks, and under advisory or required a scope-only start is resolved by its paths and recorded with its standing, but its context carries the section only when the task named an issue, an intent or an exemption. A provider episode with no task open is not bound at all (ADR 0052).
The briefing informs. It does not decide whether a criterion is met, and it refuses nothing at finish.
Why it exists
The intent engine could already say what an issue serves, and nothing asked it: the context a worker was handed named a scope and no purpose. A briefing that depends on the worker remembering to ask is a briefing most sessions never get.