---
title: "STAIR Console Navigation"
group: "Get started"
groupOrder: 1
order: 2
---
The STAIR Console sidebar groups pages into Workspace, MCP, Configuration, System and External Tools; your role decides which items appear.

## How the STAIR Console is organized

Every page of the STAIR Console has the same layout:

- **Sidebar** on the left. The header shows the logo, the product name (**STAIR**, "powered by STAIR") and the build number. The arrow button **Collapse sidebar** shrinks the sidebar to icons. Items that are new in this version carry a **NEW** badge until you open them once.
- **User button** at the bottom of the sidebar, with your initials, name and role label (**Root**, **Admin**, **User** or **Classifier**). It opens the user menu.
- **Main area** with the page title, a short subtitle and, on list pages, a **Create** button, a search box and a table.

On list pages, click a row to open the record's view page. The **⋮** menu at the end of a row holds actions such as **Edit**, **Copy**, **Show History** and **Delete**. View and edit pages use vertical tabs on the left, for example **General**, **Toolsets**, **Access Control** and **Usage**.

![The STAIR Console with the full sidebar on the left and the Demo · Support Triage agent open on its General tab.](./stair-console-navigation-console-sidebar.png)

## STAIR Console sidebar reference

The table lists every sidebar item in STAIR 1.7, in sidebar order, with the roles that see it. Root sees every item.

| Group | Item | What you do there | Roles that see the item |
|---|---|---|---|
| Workspace | **Agents** | Create, run and manage AI agents. This is the start page | All roles |
| Workspace | **Toolsets** | Connect MCP servers and choose the tools agents may use | All roles |
| Workspace | **Skills** | Manage instruction packages (`SKILL.md` and files) | All roles |
| Workspace | **Agent Evaluations** | Test agents with scripted requests and evaluators | Admin, User |
| Workspace | **Workflows** | Build multi-step automations on a graph | All roles |
| Workspace | **Schedules** | Run a workflow or an agent on a cron schedule | All roles |
| MCP | **Registries** | Manage the sources of the MCP Catalog | Admin |
| MCP | **Catalog** | Browse MCP servers, deploy them or add them as toolsets | Admin |
| MCP | **Server Instances** | Manage MCP servers that STAIR runs | Admin |
| MCP | **MCP Gateways** | Expose tools and agents to external MCP clients through one endpoint | Admin, Classifier |
| Configuration | **Models** | Manage model providers and LLM models (tabs **Models** and **Providers**) | Admin |
| Configuration | **Secrets** | Store credentials, such as LLM provider API keys, that model providers reference | Admin |
| Configuration | **Service Accounts** | Manage non-human identities and their API keys | Admin |
| System | **Administration** | Installation-wide settings, jobs, license, runtime logs, identity providers | Admin |
| System | **Data Transfer** | Export records into a bundle and import bundles | Admin, User |
| System | **Activity Log** | See who created, changed or deleted which record | All roles |
| System | **ACL Rules** | See which permissions a user, team or service account has | All roles |
| System | **Classifications** | Manage the classification groups used to filter records | Classifier |
| External Tools | **Chat** | Open STAIR Chat in a new tab | All roles |
| External Tools | **Knowledge** | Open the Knowledge app in a new tab | All roles |

Some sidebar items open a page that you can view but not change. For example, every role sees **Toolsets**, but only an Admin can create a toolset. Inside a page, what you can do with each record also depends on its access list: Read, Write, Manage and Execute. See [Security and Access Control](/docs/security-and-access-control/llm.md).

## STAIR roles in the console

| Role | What the role adds |
|---|---|
| **Root** | Sees every page and has full rights on every record, regardless of access lists. Only Root can add MCP servers to a custom registry source |
| **Admin** | Manages installation-wide configuration: MCP registries, catalog and server instances, models, secrets, service accounts, administration. Creates toolsets, skills, schedules and MCP Gateways |
| **User** | Builds and runs agents: creates agents, workflows and agent evaluations, uses Data Transfer |
| **Classifier** | Manages classification groups on the **Classifications** page, assigns classifications to records and sees **MCP Gateways** |

A person can hold several roles; the user button shows the highest one (Root, then Admin, Classifier, User). Pages that a role cannot open redirect to **Agents**.

## How to use the STAIR Console user menu

1. At the bottom of the sidebar, click your name.
2. Choose an item:
   - **Preferences** opens **My Preferences**, where you set the console **Language** (English, Русский or Deutsch). See [User Preferences](/docs/user-preferences/llm.md).
   - **Connections** opens your personal connections, with the tabs **Tokens** (personal API keys, `aip_sk_…`) and **Toolset** (credentials you gave to toolsets, which you can revoke). See [API Keys and Service Accounts](/docs/api-keys-and-service-accounts/llm.md) and [Toolsets and MCP Tools](/docs/toolsets-and-mcp-tools/llm.md).
   - **Logout** signs you out of STAIR.

![The user menu open at the bottom of the STAIR Console sidebar, with Preferences, Connections and Logout.](./stair-console-navigation-user-menu.png)

## How to open STAIR Chat and Knowledge from the console

1. In the sidebar, under **External Tools**, click **Chat** or **Knowledge**.
2. The app opens in a new browser tab with the same sign-in.
3. To go back, click **Platform** in the STAIR Chat or Knowledge sidebar.

See [STAIR Chat](/docs/stair-chat/llm.md) for both apps.

## How to find records quickly in the STAIR Console

- **Search.** Every list page has a search box, for example "Search by agent name and description" on **Agents**.
- **Filters.** **Agents** has a **Filters** button (status, creator, owner, toolset, sub-agent, skills).
- **Classifications panel.** On **Agents**, **Toolsets**, **Skills**, **Workflows** and **MCP Gateways**, the vertical **Classifications** tab on the left edge of the list opens a filter by classification. See [Classifications](/docs/classifications/llm.md).
- **Pin page.** The pin icon next to a record title pins the page as a tab for quick access. **Unpin all** removes all pinned tabs.
- **Show History.** The **Show History** row action opens the **Activity Log** filtered to that record.

## Troubleshooting

### A page opens the Agents list instead

Cause: your role does not include the page. For example, **Models** needs Admin.
Fix: ask your STAIR administrator for the role listed in the sidebar reference above.

### "You do not have the required roles"

Cause: your account has no console role. With STAIR Chat access only, the console redirects you to STAIR Chat after a countdown; without any role, it offers to sign out.
Fix: ask your administrator to assign a role.

### The Create button is missing or a record cannot be edited

Cause: creating that record type needs another role, or you lack Write or Manage permission on the record.
Fix: ask the record's owner for access, or an administrator for the role.

## FAQ

### Where are my preferences and API keys in the STAIR Console?

Both are in the user menu at the bottom of the sidebar: **Preferences** for the language, **Connections → Tokens** for personal API keys.

### Why do I see fewer sidebar items than a colleague?

Sidebar items depend on your roles. Root sees everything; MCP, Configuration and Administration pages need Admin; Classifications needs Classifier.

### Can I change the product name and logo in the sidebar?

Yes. An administrator can set **Application name**, **Logo** and **Favicon** in **Administration → General**. See [STAIR Administration](/docs/stair-administration/llm.md).

### Where did "Connected Apps" go?

In STAIR 1.7 it is called **Service Accounts**, under **Configuration**.

### How do I make more room for the page content?

Click **Collapse sidebar** (the arrow in the sidebar header). The sidebar shrinks to icons; click the arrow again to expand it.

## Related

- [What is STAIR](/docs/what-is-stair/llm.md)
- [STAIR Concepts](/docs/stair-concepts/llm.md)
- [User Preferences](/docs/user-preferences/llm.md)
- [Security and Access Control](/docs/security-and-access-control/llm.md)
- [STAIR Administration](/docs/stair-administration/llm.md)
- [STAIR Chat](/docs/stair-chat/llm.md)