ENSURING CONSISTENCY BETWEEN CONTENT AND METADATA WITH INTENTS

A storage unit (SU) includes an interface configured to interface and communicate with a dispersed storage network (DSN), a memory that stores operational instructions, and a processing module operably coupled to the interface and memory such that the processing module, when operable within the SU based on the operational instructions, is configured to perform various operations. The SU stores at least one encoded data slice (EDS) of first EDSs corresponding to a data object that are distributedly stored in first SUs and also an intent message that includes specifications for consistency between the data object and metadata of the data object. A second set of EDSs corresponding to the metadata are distributedly stored in second SUs. The SU services the intent message to determine consistency of the data object and the metadata based on the specifications and deletes the intent message when they are consistent.