[gatein-dev] exo platform kernel

Where exactly should we be looking for the documentation for exo kernel? I know there is some in the reference guide, but there is also documentation on the exoplatform wiki. All I want to be able to do is to access a service in the portal during the deployment of an application. But configuration.xml files only appear to be used when the server is first started, and if I access the kernel directly in java (ie PortalContainer.getInstance) there doesn't appear to be any way to guarantee that the dependent service is running yet.