The Strata sidebar

The sidebar is your navigation hub. At the top is a three-tab mini-nav for Inbox, Chats, and Agents; below that are Pages (Workspace, Data, Admin); and at the bottom is your account menu.

The three-tab nav

The sidebar header contains three tabs that switch between your incoming messages, saved conversations, and deployed agents. Each tab shows a count badge and can be navigated with arrow keys (Left/Right to switch tabs; Home/End to jump to the first or last).

Inbox

Shows announcements, agent run notifications, and system messages you haven't read yet. The Inbox tab displays a small unread count (a number badge appears when you have unread items). Click any message to open it; it marks as read. For a full archive of past messages, click All messages at the bottom of the panel.

Note

The sidebar shows only unread items — once read, messages move to the full archive. See Inbox for details on message types and retention.

Chats

Lists your recent conversations in two sections — Pinned and Recents. The sidebar shows up to 10 recent chats; click Show all chats to see the full list on a dedicated page.

Each chat row has a 3-dot menu (⋯) for quick actions:

• Rename — edit the chat title
• Pin / Unpin — keep favorites at the top (pinned chats move into the Pinned section above Recents)
• Export — download the conversation as a formatted PDF
• Delete — remove the chat permanently

To start a new chat, click the New chat button at the top, or press Cmd+N (Windows: Ctrl+N). On Safari, use Shift+Cmd+O instead, since Safari reserves Cmd+N for its own "New Window" shortcut.

Agents

Shows your deployed agents grouped by status:

• Running — agents currently executing, with elapsed time updating live
• Scheduled — agents with upcoming runs (time shown as "in Xm" or "in Xh")
• Paused — disabled agents
• Idle — active agents with no upcoming schedule

Click an agent to view its details on the Agents page. Click Deploy agent to create a new one.

The Pages section

Below the three tabs sits a collapsible Pages section that groups navigation links:

• Workspace — Chat and Agents (list)
• Data (when connected) — Dashboard, Tables, Procedures, Explorer, and Schema map. This section only appears when you have a SQL Server connection.
• Admin (for admins) — Users, Roles, Announcements, Knowledge Base, Usage, Billing, Active sessions, API keys, and Organization. Visibility depends on your permissions. The audit log lives inside Organization settings → Audit.

Sections are collapsible; your preference is saved per browser. First-time users see Workspace expanded and Data/Admin folded.

Search (Cmd/Ctrl+K)

Press Cmd+K (Windows: Ctrl+K) to open the search modal. It searches across:

• Pages — workspace and admin pages (top 3 results)
• Chats — recent conversations (top 5)
• Agents — deployed agents (top 3)

Type to filter results. Use ↑/↓ to navigate, Enter to open, or Esc to close. The search remembers focus so it returns to the search button when you close it.

Collapse and resize

The sidebar can be collapsed to an icon-only rail. It auto-collapses on narrow viewports (under ~1100px window width). Click the collapse toggle button (top-right of the sidebar header, next to the organization name) to collapse/expand.

To adjust the sidebar width manually, drag the vertical grip along the right edge. The sidebar width persists per browser. The grip can also be navigated with keyboard: focus it and press ← / → to nudge the width by 8 pixels.

Tip

The sidebar automatically collapses to icon-only mode when your window narrows below ~1100px. You can expand it with the toggle button. Icons-only mode is also shown on very small phones.

Tab state and persistence

The active tab (Inbox, Chats, or Agents) is saved per browser, so when you return to Strata, it opens to the same tab you last viewed. To switch tabs from the keyboard, focus a tab and use the ← / → arrow keys (or Home / End to jump to the first or last).

The account menu

Click your name, role, and avatar at the bottom of the sidebar to open your account menu. It shows:

• Your email — displayed at the top (read-only)
• Settings — opens your personal settings page
• Learn More — a submenu with links to Documentation, Usage policy, and Privacy policy
• Support — opens the support widget
• Log out — signs you out after a confirmation dialog

The avatar mirrors your avatar style from Settings, including custom colors, symbols, or initials.

Online status

A small dot next to your avatar shows your network state:

• Green (online) — connected and responsive
• Yellow (unstable) — slow network detected (2G or slow-2g)
• Red (offline) — no internet connection

Live updates

The sidebar refreshes every 30 seconds to pull the latest chats, agents, and inbox items. In the Inbox and Agents tabs, relative timestamps (like "now", "5m ago", "2h", "in 30s") update live every 1 second. When your browser tab is hidden, these timers pause to save battery and CPU.

Key

Data across surfaces (e.g., you rename a chat in one tab and pin it in another) syncs immediately — you don't need to refresh to see changes.

Keyboard shortcuts

Related

• Chat overview — how to use the chat workspace
• Agents overview — creating and monitoring agents
• Inbox — understanding messages and notifications
• Keyboard shortcuts — full shortcut list