diff --git a/src/app/intake/layout.tsx b/src/app/intake/layout.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ed39e63
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/app/intake/layout.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+import type { Metadata } from "next";
+
+export const metadata: Metadata = {
+  title: "Submit a request",
+  description: "Send a request to the developer without signing in.",
+};
+
+/**
+ * The intake route's own layout, separate from src/app/layout.tsx.
+ *
+ * The public route must not ship the full client-board app shell, its fonts,
+ * its theme machinery or its analytics — those belong on a signed-in page. A
+ * service worker can cache a smaller payload faster, and offline, and there is
+ * no sidebar to render for an anonymous visitor anyway.
+ *
+ * Deviation from the spec: this layout does NOT render its own <html>/<body>.
+ * The root layout owns those exclusively in Next.js App Router; a nested
+ * layout that tries to redefine them is a build error. The intent is preserved
+ * anyway — this layout pulls in no ThemeScript, no ThemeSync, no Inter font,
+ * no globals.css — so the public route ships without the signed-in app shell.
+ *
+ * Plan 8b adds the manifest link and the iOS-specific meta tags. They live
+ * here, not in src/app/layout.tsx, for the same reason — the public route
+ * is its own thing.
+ */
+export default function IntakeLayout({
+  children,
+}: Readonly<{ children: React.ReactNode }>) {
+  return <>{children}</>;
+}