The Intent File Specification

One file, whole picture

Entities, relations, processes, forms, reports, permissions and seed data - the entire application's intent lives in one readable YAML document at the project root.

One altitude above models

The intent never emits code. It authors the model artefacts a platform already generates from; those, in turn, become the running application.

Deterministic generation

Identical intent yields identical output, byte for byte. The file is the source of truth; everything below it is a pure function of the file.

Composable across models

Split a domain into several intent modules that reference each other's master data across models and contribute their screens to one shared shell.

Declarative glue, first-class escape hatch

Notifications, schedules, integrations, webhooks, roll-ups, postings and workflow triggers are declared, not coded - and a designated escape hatch survives every regeneration.

Authorable by hand or by AI

The format is structured enough to hand-author and small enough for an AI assistant to propose reviewable patches against. AI is an accelerator, never a single point of failure.

What is an Intent File?

An Intent File (*.intent) is a single YAML document, one per project, that is the source of truth for a whole application. It describes what the system is - its data, its rules, its workflows and its screens - without describing how any particular platform realises it.

A conforming generator reads the Intent File and deterministically produces the derived model artefacts (a data model, process definitions, forms, reports, roles, seed data) and, from those, a complete running application: schema, persistence, APIs, user interface, background jobs, listeners, processes and security. The Intent File stops at the model layer; it never emits application code itself.

That single boundary is what makes the format valuable: the file is small enough to read in one sitting, structured enough to validate, stable enough to diff and version, and portable enough that any conforming generator can consume it.

yaml

name: orders
description: Order management with an approval workflow

entities:
  - name: Customer
    fields:
      - { name: id,          type: integer, primaryKey: true, generated: true }
      - { name: name,        type: string,  required: true, length: 200 }
      - { name: creditLimit, type: decimal }
    relations:
      - { name: orders, kind: oneToMany, to: Order }

  - name: Order
    fields:
      - { name: id,        type: integer, primaryKey: true, generated: true }
      - { name: orderDate, type: date,    required: true }
      - { name: total,     type: decimal }
    relations:
      - { name: customer, kind: manyToOne, to: Customer }

processes:
  - name: OrderApproval
    trigger: { onCreate: Order }
    steps:
      - { name: review, kind: userTask, args: { assignee: manager, form: ApproveOrder } }
      - { name: done,   kind: end }

Intent FileMake Intent Your Source of Code.