> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.arupa.dev/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Kernel

> Configure the address and directories required by the Arupa Kernel.

The Kernel needs a small set of settings before it can start its server and
plugin system. These settings are defined at the top level of the TOML
configuration file:

```toml theme={null}
Listen = ":8080"
PluginDir = "plugins"
PluginTempDir = "tmp"
```

## `Listen`

`Listen` is the network address where the Kernel starts its HTTP server. The
default value, `:8080`, listens on port `8080` on all local interfaces.

You can provide a specific host and port when the server should listen on a
particular interface:

```toml theme={null}
Listen = "127.0.0.1:8080"
```

## `PluginDir`

`PluginDir` is the directory that the Kernel scans for `.plg` plugin packages.
The plugin manager uses this directory to discover the plugins available to
Arupa.

The path can be absolute or relative to the process working directory. In the
example configuration, `plugins` means a `plugins` directory next to the
directory from which Arupa is started.

## `PluginTempDir`

`PluginTempDir` is the writable temporary directory used while the Kernel
loads plugins. Arupa extracts plugin packages into this directory before it
starts them.

The directory must be writable by the Arupa process. It is separate from
`PluginDir`: keep the original `.plg` packages in `PluginDir`, and use
`PluginTempDir` for the Kernel's extracted runtime files.