Platform Navigation Components
Navigation is the skeleton of a business application. Users depend on it to orient themselves, move between sections, and find what they need quickly. Navigation that doesn't match the app's information architecture creates constant friction — users hunt for things that should be findable.
Configurable navigation components let you build navigation that fits your app, not the other way around.
The App Header
The top navigation header is fully configurable. Positions available in the header: a logo area (your brand's logo links to the app home), a primary navigation area (top-level menu items or search), an actions area (quick-action buttons or a notifications indicator), and a user menu trigger.
Which elements appear, what they contain, and how they're arranged — all configurable. A minimal header for focused applications. A rich header for complex apps with many top-level sections.
The Sidebar Navigation
The sidebar provides vertical navigation — a collapsible list of navigation items arranged in sections. Items can be grouped with section headers. Sections can be collapsed independently. The sidebar can be configured to collapse to icon-only mode, giving more space to the content area.
Each navigation item has a label, an icon, and a target URL. Items can link to screens, to external resources, or to system sections like the settings panel. Items can be conditionally shown based on user role — a settings section visible only to administrators, for example.
Nested Navigation
Navigation items support sub-items: a top-level item expands to reveal a nested list of related items. A "Finance" section might expand to show Invoices, Payments, Expenses, and Reports as sub-items.
The depth limit is two levels — top-level item and sub-items. This constraint keeps navigation comprehensible; deeper nesting creates navigation that's harder to learn and harder to use quickly.
The User Menu
The user menu appears as a dropdown from the user avatar or name in the header. Standard user menu items include: account settings, locale/language preference, and sign out. Custom items can be added — links to documentation, quick links to frequently used records, or a link to a support channel.
Consistent Across Pages
Navigation is defined once and applies across the entire app. Every page sees the same sidebar, the same header, the same user menu. Users never lose their navigation context when they move between pages.
Updates to navigation take effect immediately across all pages — no page-by-page update needed.