[UX Issue] Duo Agent Platform - Define navigation/IA for GA
Context
The MVC for the navigation and information architecture (IA) of the Duo Agent Platform (https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/538421) is unclear — which primarily affects the management and catalog of agents and workflows. This is a critical piece of the UX where we need to agree on a direction that we can iterate towards.
If changes are needed to the left-side navigation, the direction must be validated enough to go through the navigation changes process.
This challenge was previously discussed in Figma. Recently, an Agents > Agent runs item was added to the project navigation, which is behind a feature flag — see !193677 (comment 2568793082). A more concrete proposal was recently made in AI Platform Navigation (#550186 - closed).
User problem
Users need to efficiently locate, configure, and interact with the Agent Platform within GitLab's project-level navigation structure, while maintaining consistency with GitLab's existing navigation paradigm and respecting role-based automation preferences.
Evidence
We have a large new feature coming into the Platform, and the current navigation paradym would need to be expanded to fit this.
Assumptions
Action
Add your assumptions or +1 to assumptions you also share.
| Assumption | Risk | Added by / +1s |
|---|---|---|
| Flows are also useful for use cases where AI isn't needed | Low | @pedroms |
| Global Settings and configurations live in the settings area of the Instance, Group, Project, etc. | Low | @emilybauman |
Open questions
Action
Add your open questions to validate or +1 to questions you also share.
| Question | Priority | Added by / +1s |
|---|---|---|
| Is the proposal where users would expect to find these new features? | High | @emilybauman @pedroms |
| Who needs access to what? Should there be read-only access to any of these features? | High | @emilybauman |
| What configuration settings are needed that apply to all agents across the project? How about Flows? | High | @emilybauman |
| Does this new proposal of adding a section break existing user workflows (we are moving code down one spot in the Nav) | High | @emilybauman |
Solution
A proposed solution to this can be broken down into two portions. The first being adding a new item to GitLab's Navigation structure called Automate below Plan and above Code.
Project Nav
├─ Manage
├─ Plan
├─ Automate
├─ Code
├─ Build
├─ Secure
├─ Deploy
├─ Operate
├─ Monitor
├─ Analyze
├─
├─ SettingsThe second being spreading the Agent Platform needs into buckets in the current navigation (this is a draft proposal:
These changes follow similar patterns we see within other areas of GitLab, such as CI/CD which is spread out as the following:
Project nav for CI/CD
├─ Build
│ ├─ Pipelines [Main Intent: Act] (Has a “View analytics” link to Analyze > CI/CD Analytics)
│ ├─ Jobs
│ ├─ Pipeline editor [Main Intent: Configure]
├─ Analyze
│ ├─ CI/CD Analytics [Main Intent: Analyze]
├─ Settings
│ ├─ CI/CD [Main Intent: Configure]