diff --git a/.serena/memories/exporter/core.md b/.serena/memories/exporter/core.md
index 65b6cbf3c6..992c796b84 100644
--- a/.serena/memories/exporter/core.md
+++ b/.serena/memories/exporter/core.md
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ on this side: the row of the job, its cancel and its result are the backend's.
 - `exporter.jobs` is the local cancel arm, smaller than the legacy `app.jobs`: one flag per claimed job (`register`/`mark-cancelled` returning true/nil/`cancelled?`/`release`) and one zero-arg check constructor per job (`check-cancelled`, raising `:job-cancelled`). No terminate callbacks and no shared-array signal travel through here — the abort belongs to whoever holds the render (the per-lease interval of `exporter.wasm.scope` terminates its own worker). The runner releases the registry entry on every settle; the legacy runner never did (one leaked entry per job).
 - `exporter.consumer.plan` is the render plan (`prepare-exports`, `count-objects`, `sanitize-file-regex`), dispatching on `exporter.renderer/wasm?` instead of the legacy `headless?`.
 - `exporter.consumer` is the runner: `run-export [cfg claim params]` keeps the legacy beats/watchdog/settle (first breath, render session, multipart complete or `fail-job`, temp release) but renders through the facade (`render [cfg & task]`) with one check from `exporter.jobs` shared between units of work and drivers. `cfg` is the render view; the claim names the job, `params` carries the frozen job params. The settle never rejects; only bugs of this process do.
+- `exporter.tmpdir` owns the temp-file area (`:exporter/tmpdir`): the legacy shell creates its dir at namespace load, so referencing the var inside `init-key` pulls that moment into the lifecycle (fail fast on a bad `:tempdir`, ordered before the renderer that writes to it). Named for what it owns, not for the legacy namespace.
 - `exporter.consumer.api` is the backend management client (claim/progress/session/settle, transit bodies, multipart artifact), a faithful `^:async` port with no promesa chains and the same `fetch` def seam for hermetic tests.
 - `exporter.consumer.config` holds the consumer knobs (`concurrency` floored at 1, `queue-key`, `queue-name`): the runner, the worker and `exporter.main` read it, so no namespace under `exporter.*` depends on `app.consumer.*` anymore.
 - `exporter.consumer.worker` is the queue poller (`read-payload`, `process`, `poll-once`, `start`/`stop` with a running flag, no promesa): K connections over the `:exporter` queue, claim → `run-export` through the injected `:renderer` → settle before the next pop. The worker config carries the queue knobs plus the `:renderer` by ref; no render statics nest inside it. `stop` quits every connection and ends every loop (the legacy loops kept failing turns after the stop); boot cleans orphaned temp files first.
diff --git a/exporter/src/exporter/main.cljs b/exporter/src/exporter/main.cljs
index 58544b9a02..8f33367711 100644
--- a/exporter/src/exporter/main.cljs
+++ b/exporter/src/exporter/main.cljs
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
    [exporter.consumer :as-alias consumer]
    [exporter.consumer.config :as ccfg]
    [exporter.consumer.worker]
+   [exporter.tmpdir]
    [exporter.utils.system :as system]
    [exporter.wasm :as-alias wasm]
    [exporter.wasm.pool]))
@@ -41,12 +42,16 @@
    ::wasm/pool
    {:max (ccfg/concurrency)}
 
+   :exporter/tmpdir
+   {}
+
    :exporter/renderer
-   {::browser/pool (system/ref :exporter.browser/pool)
-    ::wasm/pool    (system/ref :exporter.wasm/pool)
-    :base-uri      (cf/get-internal-uri)
-    :public-uri    (cf/get :public-uri)
-    :svgo?         (contains? cf/flags :exporter-svgo)}
+   {::browser/pool  (system/ref :exporter.browser/pool)
+    ::wasm/pool     (system/ref :exporter.wasm/pool)
+    :exporter/tmpdir (system/ref :exporter/tmpdir)
+    :base-uri       (cf/get-internal-uri)
+    :public-uri     (cf/get :public-uri)
+    :svgo?          (contains? cf/flags :exporter-svgo)}
 
    ::consumer/worker
    {:renderer    (system/ref :exporter/renderer)
diff --git a/exporter/src/exporter/tmpdir.cljs b/exporter/src/exporter/tmpdir.cljs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..6e20a1be40
--- /dev/null
+++ b/exporter/src/exporter/tmpdir.cljs
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+;; This Source Code Form is subject to the terms of the Mozilla Public
+;; License, v. 2.0. If a copy of the MPL was not distributed with this
+;; file, You can obtain one at http://mozilla.org/MPL/2.0/.
+;;
+;; Copyright (c) KALEIDOS SUBSIDIARY SL
+
+(ns exporter.tmpdir
+  "The temp-file area as a system component (`:exporter/tmpdir`).
+
+  The legacy `app.util.shell` creates its `tmpdir` at namespace load:
+  config read, log line and `mkdirSync` the first time anything
+  requires it, in every thread including render workers and tests.
+  This component pulls that moment into the lifecycle: referencing the
+  var forces the creation during boot (fail fast on a bad `:tempdir`),
+  orders it before anything that writes temp files, and carries the
+  path in the instance for the day the temp area becomes injected
+  instead of global. Named for what it owns, not for the legacy
+  namespace it shadows."
+  (:require
+   [app.util.shell :as sh]
+   [exporter.utils.system :as system]))
+
+(defmethod system/init-key :exporter/tmpdir
+  [_ _]
+  {:tmpdir sh/tmpdir})
diff --git a/exporter/test/exporter_tests/main_test.cljs b/exporter/test/exporter_tests/main_test.cljs
index 157535190d..63220513fd 100644
--- a/exporter/test/exporter_tests/main_test.cljs
+++ b/exporter/test/exporter_tests/main_test.cljs
@@ -52,9 +52,11 @@
                                             (js/Promise.resolve #js {}))}
    :exporter/renderer     {:exporter.browser/pool (system/ref :exporter.browser/pool)
                            :exporter.wasm/pool    (system/ref :exporter.wasm/pool)
+                           :exporter/tmpdir      (system/ref :exporter/tmpdir)
                            :base-uri              "http://internal/"
                            :public-uri            "http://public/"
-                           :svgo?                 false}})
+                           :svgo?                 false}
+   :exporter/tmpdir      {}})
 
 (defn- pool-of
   []
@@ -121,6 +123,8 @@
       (t/is (some? (pool-of)))
       (t/testing "the renderer boots as a render fn over the resolved pools"
         (t/is (fn? (:exporter/renderer @main/system))))
+      (t/testing "the temp area boots before anything that writes to it"
+        (t/is (string? (:tmpdir (:exporter/tmpdir @main/system)))))
       (t/testing "the wasm pool rides the same lifecycle"
         (t/is (some? (:pool (wasm-pool-of))))
         (t/is (= 300000 (:timeout-ms (wasm-pool-of)))))