Navigating the interface

Spanna is built around a few working areas that stay consistent while you move between collections and tasks.

Left sidebar

The left sidebar is your navigation layer.

Use it to:

• manage connections
• expand databases and collections
• switch quickly between environments
• access account and sync actions

If you spend most of your time moving between collections, this is the part of the app you will touch the most.

Top query bar

The query bar is where you shape what you want to see.

Use it for:

• document filters
• limits and query options
• quick reruns when you are iterating on a result set

Think of it as the control surface for the current collection view.

Collection tabs

When you open a collection, Spanna gives you a set of focused tabs for different kinds of work:

• Documents
• Schema
• Aggregation
• Indexes
• Query Builder

This is one of the core ideas in the product: stay in the same collection, change tools only when the task changes.

Bottom shell

The embedded shell is there for the moments when you want direct MongoDB commands without leaving the app. It is useful for quick checks, one-off commands, and workflows that are easier to express in raw syntax.

Settings

Use settings to control things like:

• appearance
• Cloud Sync and account state
• telemetry and diagnostics
• confirmation prompts and app behavior

You do not need to memorize every panel. The important thing is knowing where to go when you want to tune how Spanna behaves.