What is libtool's .lai file for?

Question

Can somebody tell me what libtool's .lai file is for?

See also What are libtool's .la file for?

Answer 1

.lai is the extension of a file that will be installed as an .la file. In other words, i is appended in order to show that it is in a temporary "staging" state.

What the i stands for is anyone's guess. My guess is that it has something to do with "install".