instance — a folder registered with kern, plus the settings that describe how to run it. one instance = one supervised process tree.

plugin — a .kern package that teaches kern a server type: manifest metadata, a config form, lifecycle commands, optional ui. see manifest-reference.

`.kern` file — the plugin archive (a zip). double-clicking one opens kern's install dialog via the kern:// protocol.

lifecycle — the named steps a plugin declares: install, start, stop, restart. resolved by rust at launch, with {{userOverrides.*}} templating.

userOverrides — the values from the instance's config form (port, jar path, runtime…), referenced by lifecycle commands and scaffold files.

manifest — manifest.json inside a plugin: id, version, permissions, config schema, lifecycle, scaffold.

host api — the bridge a plugin ui uses to talk to the app (invoke, listen, tab/toolbar registrars), gated by manifest permissions.

orphaned — the instance's folder is missing (moved, renamed, unplugged). kern keeps the record and flags it instead of deleting anything.

adopted — a process that survived a kern restart with no pipes: it's monitored by pid (liveness, metrics, force-stop) but can't receive stdin or stream logs it didn't start.

graceful stop — the stop pipeline: stdin/stop command → wait stopTimeoutSecs → force-kill the tree. the result of a forced path is stopped-forced.

stopped-forced — the status when the graceful window expired and kern killed the tree. see lifecycle.

watchdog — per-instance crash policy: auto-restart with exponential backoff up to maxAttempts, with notifications and a last-crash report.

preflight — the read-only checks before a start: port conflicts (with the owning pid), pending minecraft eula, low disk.

snapshot / backup — the world/ directory zipped into <instance>/backups/world-<timestamp>.zip. a restore first snapshots the current world as pre-restore-<epoch>.zip.

alert rules — per-instance cpu/ram thresholds with a sustained window; firing raises a notification (and webhook).

notification center — the in-app history of events (crashes, backups, alerts…), with optional native toasts and webhook mirroring.

audit log — an append-only local record of lifecycle actions, config changes, plugin installs, backups, and task runs.

kern-cli — the command line for a running kern. full-screen dashboard with no arguments.

automation api — the loopback, bearer-token json api on 127.0.0.1 that kern-cli speaks.

web remote — the optional https control panel on your lan, paired by qr.

reactor channel — the cpu/ram telemetry bar in the instance header. amber above 90%, red on fault.

server type — a plugin id (custom, minecraft_java, discord_bot). custom means "just run this command".