# Orchestration & Runtime

A NetScript app is never one process — it is services, plugin APIs, background processors, a database, and a cache, wired together. This pillar is about the machinery that makes that fleet **derived rather than hand-maintained**: one `netscript init` scaffolds the workspace, plugin contributions become Aspire resources through generated registries, and a single `aspire start` stands the whole graph up with its wiring resolved. Encore markets its generated local development dashboard hard, and for good reason — a live, auto-provisioned map of the system is the artifact that proves the wiring is derived. NetScript's equivalent is the Aspire dashboard at `:18888`: every resource on it comes from your declared services and plugin contributions, not from a hand-edited process list.

Orchestration & Runtime covers the Aspire AppHost, generated plugin registry, runtime configuration, resource graph, deployment flow, and process lifecycle. Start here when you need to bring the whole workspace up, change runtime overrides, or understand how plugin contributions become resources.

[Overview & Concepts   Aspire resource graph  How the AppHost materializes services, plugins, stores, and the dashboard.](https://rickylabs.github.io/netscript/netscript/explanation/aspire/) [Story   CLI & scaffold  One command to a complete workspace — and why generated conventions save agent turns.](https://rickylabs.github.io/netscript/netscript/orchestration-runtime/cli-scaffold/) [Story   Runtime configuration  Typed project config plus hot-reloadable operator overrides.](https://rickylabs.github.io/netscript/netscript/orchestration-runtime/runtime-config/) [Quickstart   Run the workspace  Scaffold and start a workspace from the quickstart.](https://rickylabs.github.io/netscript/netscript/quickstart/) [How-To   Deploy locally with Aspire  Use Aspire to bring up local resources.](https://rickylabs.github.io/netscript/netscript/orchestration-runtime/how-to/deploy-local-aspire/) [How-To   Runtime overrides  Roll out configuration overrides across resources.](https://rickylabs.github.io/netscript/netscript/orchestration-runtime/how-to/roll-out-runtime-overrides/) [How-To   Plugins  Add or author a plugin contribution.](https://rickylabs.github.io/netscript/netscript/orchestration-runtime/how-to/add-a-plugin/) [API Reference   aspire and runtime config  Generated symbols for AppHost, config, runtime-config, plugin, and CLI units.](https://rickylabs.github.io/netscript/netscript/reference/aspire/)

## Where to go next

New here, start with the concept, then the practical wiring, then the reference:

- **Start from the CLI:** [CLI & scaffold](https://rickylabs.github.io/netscript/orchestration-runtime/cli-scaffold/) is the story of how one command lays the workspace down and why the generated conventions are the part that saves turns — for you and for a coding agent.
- **Understand the model:** [Orchestration with Aspire](https://rickylabs.github.io/netscript/netscript/explanation/aspire/)

  explains why a NetScript app is a resource graph, how plugin contributions become resources, and when to change vs. regenerate vs. hand-edit the generated AppHost.
- **Wire resources together:** [Discover services](https://rickylabs.github.io/netscript/netscript/services-sdk/how-to/discover-services/)

  covers the two-pass reference resolution — including how a service now declares `pluginReferences`/`dependsOn` — and [Roll out runtime overrides](https://rickylabs.github.io/netscript/netscript/orchestration-runtime/how-to/roll-out-runtime-overrides/)

  covers configuration across resources.
- **See it observed:** [Telemetry & logging](https://rickylabs.github.io/netscript/netscript/observability/telemetry/) is the dashboard side of the same graph — the spans and logs `aspire start` collects.
- **Look up exact symbols:** [the Aspire reference](https://rickylabs.github.io/netscript/netscript/reference/aspire/) and the [CLI reference](https://rickylabs.github.io/netscript/netscript/cli-reference/) .

## Learn, do, look up

[Learn  Quickstart  From `netscript init` to a running, orchestrated workspace.](https://rickylabs.github.io/netscript/netscript/quickstart/) [Do  Recipes  Task-oriented recipes for this area, one problem each.](https://rickylabs.github.io/netscript/netscript/orchestration-runtime/how-to/) [Look up  `@netscript/aspire` reference  Generated API reference. Related units: `cli`, `config`, `runtime-config`, `plugin`.](https://rickylabs.github.io/netscript/netscript/reference/aspire/) [Understand  Orchestration with Aspire  The design rationale behind this pillar.](https://rickylabs.github.io/netscript/netscript/explanation/aspire/)