> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.lenses.io/latest/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.lenses.io/latest/user-guide/6.2-user-guide/getting-started/editor.md).

# Navigating and discovering Lenses

Learn how to navigate Lenses, find resources, and work with tabs.

Use Lenses to move through your Kafka estate, find resources quickly, and keep key tabs open while you work.

## Understand the main layout

The interface has four main areas:

1. **Header bar** — always visible at the top
2. **Left navigation** — the main icon-based navigation
3. **Navigation tree** — the panel that opens for the selected area
4. **Tabs** — the main area where tabs open

{% hint style="info" %}
Tabs stay open when you switch between areas in the left navigation.
{% endhint %}

<figure><img src="https://401348485-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FYESuTxbxhb0ZxoEuq3ka%2Fuploads%2F3t3DXr1AvgfgvNOMDCZ5%2Fimage.png?alt=media&amp;token=4625acc8-fae6-480e-b0b0-03cce3662a67" alt="Lenses workspace layout"><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

### Use the header bar

The header bar gives you fast access to top-level views and quick entry points.

![Lenses header bar](https://401348485-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FYESuTxbxhb0ZxoEuq3ka%2Fuploads%2FxbCAYlMChgNB8h7lE0gb%2Fimage.png?alt=media\&token=32a64592-1862-42dd-8a40-3536b657c76c)

#### Home

**Home** is the launch pad for quick actions. It appears when no other tabs are open. You can reopen it from the top ribbon.

#### Environments

Use **Environments** to see all registered environments and their status.

#### All Topics

Use **All Topics** to list and search topics across every environment.

### Left navigation

The left navigation opens the main resource areas in Lenses. Select an icon to open its navigation tree, browse resources, and open views in tabs.

#### Search

Use **Search** to find topics, schemas, applications, and IAM entities across all environments.

Open a result to inspect it in the workspace. Use the context menu for follow-up actions.

![Search results in Lenses](https://401348485-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FYESuTxbxhb0ZxoEuq3ka%2Fuploads%2FsxfVSgr4yLREGb1RrVu1%2Fimage.png?alt=media\&token=a27a554e-257d-4eee-ada5-f2f8ea59239e)

#### Environments and topics

Open **Environments** when you want to browse a specific Kafka environment. Expand an environment to:

1. list topics and schemas
2. manage environment configuration
3. access ACLs, quotas, alerts, auditing, and data or topic policies

For more on topic and schema discovery, see [Discovering Topics & Schemas](/latest/user-guide/6.2-user-guide/using/discovering-topics-and-schemas.md).

#### Apps

Open **Apps** to work with application-level features:

1. Kafka-to-Kafka replication between environments
2. application migration for consumer group mapping
3. SQL processing for continuous transformations
4. Kafka connectors for data integration
5. external apps that you register in Lenses

#### IAM

Open **IAM** to manage access and identity:

1. Users
2. Service accounts
3. Roles
4. Groups

### Navigation tree

Each left navigation area opens a tree focused on that resource type. For example, **Apps** opens a tree of application types.

From the tree, you can:

1. expand and browse the tree
2. favourite resources
3. create new entities
4. list entities

Actions such as **Create** and **List** open in the workspace as tabs.

The top of the tree also includes actions such as search, refresh, and create. Available actions depend on the active area.

{% columns %}
{% column %}
![Apps navigation tree](https://401348485-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FYESuTxbxhb0ZxoEuq3ka%2Fuploads%2FthOSXX1rNsV9xlNJqgQg%2Fimage.png?alt=media\&token=4f87cd30-9a69-493f-a9a4-85494f465e3f)
{% endcolumn %}

{% column %}
![Navigation tree actions](https://401348485-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FYESuTxbxhb0ZxoEuq3ka%2Fuploads%2FbdeU5fFIeHrHemJm8GwY%2Fimage.png?alt=media\&token=87c0ee56-c873-44df-b69f-ba311396ebb8)
{% endcolumn %}
{% endcolumns %}

#### Favourites

Mark any entity as a favourite with the star icon. Favourites then appear in the left navigation and in quick actions where supported.

{% columns %}
{% column %}
![Favourite resource in the navigation tree](https://401348485-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FYESuTxbxhb0ZxoEuq3ka%2Fuploads%2F6IkZMlfRbU45mU8wrz9D%2Fimage.png?alt=media\&token=e4e7d217-a56a-4b2a-83b1-8eb2dea91093)
{% endcolumn %}

{% column %}
![Favourite resource in quick actions](https://401348485-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FYESuTxbxhb0ZxoEuq3ka%2Fuploads%2FeeutqDM1HS9A0bKycaZD%2Fimage.png?alt=media\&token=f18dc906-503d-43ee-a143-b9d8f7695f5e)
{% endcolumn %}
{% endcolumns %}

### Tabs

The workspace is where you inspect resources and perform actions. Open items from the navigation tree or from context menus.

You can:

1. split a tab to create side-by-side views
2. drag and drop tabs to reorder them
3. move tabs between tab groups

Use the split icon to split the current tab.

Right-click a tab to open the tab context menu.

{% columns %}
{% column %}
![Split tabs in the workspace](https://401348485-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FYESuTxbxhb0ZxoEuq3ka%2Fuploads%2FddXRXGXUF0vmjiGVFMHs%2Fimage.png?alt=media\&token=64b7da39-bffe-4d5c-851e-c84379e13baf)
{% endcolumn %}

{% column %}
![Tab groups in the workspace](https://401348485-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FYESuTxbxhb0ZxoEuq3ka%2Fuploads%2FZIIAfFHv4nTIjjVKzN6W%2Fimage.png?alt=media\&token=a0351c68-795a-4925-9609-34493c48af6c)
{% endcolumn %}
{% endcolumns %}

<figure><img src="https://401348485-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FYESuTxbxhb0ZxoEuq3ka%2Fuploads%2FN7FGqfUb3Au82C1nVY09%2Fimage.png?alt=media&amp;token=f15dbe2a-b7c4-4f16-9929-dbc87f40abd3" alt="Tabs in the Lenses workspace"><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

#### Breadcrumbs

Each tab shows breadcrumbs at the top. Use them to see where you are and move to related views.

Each breadcrumb segment opens a menu. Use it to move up or down the resource hierarchy and switch between related views such as topic profile, partitions, and configuration.

{% columns %}
{% column %}
![Breadcrumb menu in a resource tab](https://401348485-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FYESuTxbxhb0ZxoEuq3ka%2Fuploads%2FfTCeNB9wtkglISZ557NQ%2Fimage.png?alt=media\&token=aebe3a40-16ba-4198-8a26-1425afa98b48)
{% endcolumn %}

{% column %}
![Breadcrumb navigation options](https://401348485-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FYESuTxbxhb0ZxoEuq3ka%2Fuploads%2FfKXtpmQtc9U9nNqlrAgs%2Fimage.png?alt=media\&token=28a17bb3-c9f5-4be1-b69c-10ef8ae90ca7)
{% endcolumn %}
{% endcolumns %}

#### Tab context menus

{% hint style="info" %}
Access context menus with the ellipsis (three vertical dots). ![Ellipsis icon](https://401348485-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FYESuTxbxhb0ZxoEuq3ka%2Fuploads%2FKBliq0YRk3XX8jpu3AIA%2Fimage.png?alt=media\&token=f494d28a-ebb3-45bc-a7a9-50ba76afd867)
{% endhint %}

Outer tabs have context menus for actions at the tab level. Resource tabs also expose actions for the selected entity.

For example, a topic tab can expose actions such as producing messages to that topic.

<figure><img src="https://401348485-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FYESuTxbxhb0ZxoEuq3ka%2Fuploads%2FtpkmvW0G0iGna8gGie7X%2Fimage.png?alt=media&amp;token=e38c201a-2c79-431b-8ef2-0c9b33bb5ef9" alt="Topic tab context menu"><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

{% hint style="info" %}
The tabs are available in the navigation tree, breadcrumbs and context menu (open in tab)
{% endhint %}

All grids also have context menus per row.

#### Pin tabs

Pin tabs to keep them open. You can pin a tab in three ways:

1. The pin icon in the tab label
2. Double-click the tab label
3. `Ctrl` + `S`

{% hint style="info" %}
By default, opening a tab from the navigation tree replaces the tab in focus.
{% endhint %}

## Legacy UX

Use the legacy UX if you prefer the older navigation model or need to follow an older workflow.

You can open it from context menus in the navigation tree and from supported resource tabs in the workspace.

{% hint style="info" %}
Use the open-in-tab icon to open the legacy UX where it is available. ![Open-in-tab icon](https://401348485-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FYESuTxbxhb0ZxoEuq3ka%2Fuploads%2FOiB0qwAvuaWTLkq3P23s%2Fimage.png?alt=media\&token=dcc49833-3c78-4706-872d-30c0f19c8a8d)
{% endhint %}

{% columns %}
{% column %}
![Legacy UX link in the navigation tree](https://401348485-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FYESuTxbxhb0ZxoEuq3ka%2Fuploads%2Ffh3GxLac6b3Gg5Visltk%2Fimage.png?alt=media\&token=612f2380-64ab-499c-a822-7e4721a577ad)
{% endcolumn %}

{% column %}
![Legacy UX link in a resource tab](https://401348485-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FYESuTxbxhb0ZxoEuq3ka%2Fuploads%2F25YDHWBeACgE1MqiCyNr%2Fimage.png?alt=media\&token=3a09baec-56e3-4b16-844a-796058c9007b)
{% endcolumn %}
{% endcolumns %}


---

# Agent Instructions
This documentation is published with GitBook. GitBook is the documentation platform designed so that both humans and AI agents can read, navigate, and reason over technical content effectively. Learn more at gitbook.com.

## Querying This Documentation
If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the following URL with the `ask` and `goal` query parameters:

```
GET https://docs.lenses.io/latest/user-guide/6.2-user-guide/getting-started/editor.md?ask=<question>&goal=<user_goal>
```

`ask` is the immediate question: it should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
`goal` is what the user is ultimately trying to achieve, the reason they need the answer. Sharing it helps GitBook give you a better, more relevant answer. A goal is most helpful when it describes the outcome the user wants rather than restating the question. For example, with `ask=how do I create an API token`, a goal like `automate deployments from our CI pipeline` lets GitBook tailor the answer to that use case.

The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.
