Use the console
The console has a header, a collapsible/resizable left navigation and a routed content area. Platform pages come first; each service can contribute a tree of module pages beneath them.
Login and navigation
The installation's operator token is exchanged for an HttpOnly session cookie. It is not an OTLP ingest key or a service internal secret. The login screen retains a requested deep link after authentication. Session expiry returns you to authentication; a temporary backend failure must not masquerade as invalid credentials.
The sidebar can collapse to a rail, expand on hover/focus and be pinned. Drag its separator to resize, or focus it and use arrow/Home/End keys. Double-click resets width. A narrow viewport uses a navigation drawer. Theme and layout preferences stay local to the browser.
Platform pages
| Page | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Services | Catalog, service status and access to administration |
| Wiring | Connect hooks and events, edit definitions and inspect runs |
| Explore | Query stored logs, metrics and traces across discovered sources |
| Audit | Durable platform and trusted application history |
| Errors | OTel exceptions, browser state/history and related telemetry |
| Infrastructure | Configured dependency status and available capabilities |
Service administration and module pages
All paths below are relative to the configured console prefix, normally
/backplane/. Platform administration owns /services/:service/...; modules
own /s/:service/*. Modules define their own labels, page count and route tree.
A failed module does not hide other services or prevent platform administration.
| Route | Content |
|---|---|
/services | Summary tiles and the catalog as cards, a table or a system map |
/services/:service | Overview: instances, component tree, service contract and metadata |
…/api | Service API reference, schemas, types and bundled files |
…/configuration | Settings, instance rollout, revisions, diff and rollback |
…/automation | Hooks, bindings and event rules, with links to Wiring |
…/operations | Call hooks, run activities, publish test events and start workflows. A hook or activity runs where its target runs: on the direct runtime without Temporal (a binding backplane executes itself, an activity called on the service), or as a Temporal run. Input is a form or JSON scaffolded from the declared schema; a running call shows its elapsed time and can be cancelled; a failure shows the handler's message and error type |
…/events | Streams, subscribers, messages and dead letters |
…/workflows | Workflows, runs and administrative schedules |
…/telemetry | Explore scoped to the service's telemetry selectors |
…/errors | Exception records attributed to the service |
…/audit | Audit entries attributed to the service |
/s/:service/* | Module-owned pages |
Wiring accepts links such as ?binding=<hook>, ?rule=<id> and
?event=<event> for a new rule. Its view parameter selects graph, YAML,
versions, test or runs. Explore keeps query state in the URL.
The console is a dense operator workspace built from the shared kit: semantic
status colors, panels, summary tiles and consistent forms. Platform headers
stay in place while content areas scroll. The hidden /dev route is an explicit
live composition acceptance fixture, not a product navigation entry.
Read status carefully
The header's Connected indicator describes the console's WebSocket connection to Backplane. Each view reports its own data freshness; this indicator does not certify dependency health or a working telemetry pipeline.
- A healthy instance is not proof that every downstream workflow can complete.
- A saved configuration revision may still be pending or rejected by an instance.
- A successful workflow start is not a successful workflow result.
- A telemetry query with no rows is different from an unavailable store.
- Infrastructure OK is a bounded connectivity check, not end-to-end telemetry validation.
Infrastructure checks
The Infrastructure page shows the latest checks performed by the replica named in Checked by. It does not aggregate all Backplane replicas or all nodes of a dependency cluster. The dependency table describes each check and its last completion time. Hover the relative time to see an absolute timestamp.
Each dependency is checked every five seconds, with a three-second timeout. The console reads cached results every five seconds. Refresh rereads the latest results and configured capabilities; it does not launch probes.
OK and NO apply to fresh, completed checks. Stale means current health is unknown: the transport disconnected, the API read failed, or the check is over 15 seconds old. The last result remains visible for context but stops counting as available or unavailable. Reconnecting only restores fresh status after a successful API read; an open socket without fresh checks still shows Stale.
The separate Deployment features panel reflects configuration. Enabled does not mean that its dependencies are healthy. Required and Optional describe whether a dependency is mandatory for the installation.
Working safely with forms
Actions preserve drafts after failure and suppress duplicate in-flight submissions. An uncertain mutation result requires inspection before retry. Revision conflicts show the latest state so you can reconcile changes; they must not be dismissed by repeatedly forcing the same draft.
Use configuration, wiring, workflow and event guides for specific tasks. Authors can reuse these views through platform-ui.