## Summary Improve AI Catalog discoverability by adding a **Catalog icon** to the existing Duo icon rail on the right side of the UI. This icon should be on all pages where the Duo icons are visible, and provide a consistent entry point into the global AI Catalog. ### Problem to solve Today, the global AI Catalog is only reachable via: > **Search or go to** → **Explore** → **AI Catalog** This creates several issues: - **Hard to discover:** Users rarely think to go to Explore when they want “AI capabilities.” They are usually already sitting in a group or project context. - **Catalog sits “above” namespaces:** The catalog is a cross‑namespace resource, but all prominent navigation entry points are namespace‑scoped (left nav). Putting the catalog in the left nav would be inconsistent with that model. - **Duo entry points are fragmented:** Duo interactions (chat, history, etc.) already live in the **right‑side Duo rail**, but the Catalog—which is effectively the marketplace/control plane for Duo—is not exposed there. Users need a **context-independent**, always-visible way to jump into the global catalog from wherever they are working. ### Proposal Add a **new AI Catalog icon** to the existing right‑side Duo rail: 1. **Placement** - Use the existing skinny right rail visible on global pages (todo, home) and namespace scoped pages (within groups and projects). - Add a **Catalog icon** at the bottom of that rail. 2. **Behavior** - Clicking the Catalog icon navigates the user to the **global AI Catalog** (today’s Explore → AI Catalog page) within a new tab. - Behavior should be consistent from any context (home, group, project). - Respect existing AI Catalog / Duo prerequisites and feature flags; if the user cannot access the catalog, the icon should: - Either be hidden, or - Show a clear, user-friendly message explaining why access is unavailable (decision for UX/PM). 3. **Visuals** - Reuse the existing tanuki-ai sprite icon that’s already used for the Explore → AI Catalog menu (Sidebars::Explore::Menus::AiCatalogMenu#sprite_icon). - Apply the same stroke/size treatment as other Duo right‑rail icons so it feels consistent in that rail. - Tooltip: “GitLab Duo AI Catalog”. 4. **Instrumentation** - Emit a dedicated tracking event when users click the AI Catalog icon in the Duo rail. - We will use this event to compare traffic from the Duo rail vs existing Explore → AI Catalog entry and to measure impact on catalog adoption. {width=900 height=538} ### UX / technical considerations - Ensure the icon appears only when: - The instance and account meet AI Catalog prerequisites. - The global AI Catalog is enabled (feature flags, tier, etc.). - Align with existing Duo rail patterns: - Same hover, focus, and active states. - Accessible label and keyboard navigation. ### Success criteria - Increased discoverability and usage of the AI Catalog, measured by: - Higher unique user counts visiting the catalog. - Higher proportion of sessions that start from the Duo rail icon vs the Explore path. - Reduced user confusion in UX research and feedback about “where to go to find agents/flows.” - No material increase in navigation-related support issues or feature-flag confusion.