---
title: Action Rail
description: >-
  Sidebar panels for tools, jobs, exports, reports, discovery, and settings in
  Ivy.
tags:
  - chat
  - action-rail
---

  ActionRailCollapsed,
  ActionRailExpanded,
  ActionRailDrawerOpen,
} from "@/lib/docs/story/examples/ActionRailStory";

The Action Rail gives you one-click access to tools, job monitoring, exports, reports, discovery, and settings from the right edge of [Ivy](/docs/chat). Reach for it when you want to launch a tool, check on running jobs, or open an export without leaving your conversation. Its organized sections and slide-over panels keep these controls a click away while the conversational thread stays the center of your work.

## Action Rail

The Action Rail is the vertical sidebar on the right edge of Ivy. It provides quick access to tools, job monitoring, exports, reports, and settings through organized sections and slide-over panels.

> **Live demo**

> The production `` component renders inline below. It's mounted with minimal stub providers (`WindowManagerProvider`, `IdentityProvider`, `MessagePersistenceProvider`, `CanvasOperationsProvider`) and pre-seeded Zustand stores so it can run outside Ivy's component tree. Clicks emit no audit events (`chatId` is `null`) and window-manager actions stay local to this preview.

  <realActionRailStory.WithControl />

## Layout and interaction

The action rail has three states. Each static snapshot below renders inline; the prose describes what's happening in each.

### Collapsed (40px)

Icon-only strip. Hover or click to see tooltips and open panels.

### Expanded (180px)

Icons with labels and accordion sections.

### Drawer open

A slide-over panel with full content for the selected action. Close it with the chevron (**Close panel**) button or by pressing **Esc**.

## Dynamic sections

These sections update automatically based on the current state of your workspace.

### Active jobs

Shows the currently running or pending jobs submitted from this chat. Each job entry displays:

- Job type (e.g., ESMFold, DiffDock, BLAST)
- A status icon and a progress bar
- The current phase, in the tooltip when the rail is collapsed

Click a job to open a **Job Details** floating window.

### Pipeline progress

Tracks your progress through a seven-step drug discovery checklist: Identify Target, Predict Structure, Run Docking, Evaluate ADMET, Plan Sourcing, Design Assay, and Validate Results. The header shows the completed count (for example `3/7`), completed steps are checked, and clicking a step opens the relevant panel.

### Canvas cards by tier

Lists canvas cards grouped by their current tier: Tier 2 (summary view) and Tier 3 (detail view). Click a card to toggle it between the two.

### Suggested next steps

Based on the most recent canvas cards and completed tools, the AI suggests follow-up actions. For example, after an ESMFold result, it might suggest running DiffDock or generating a compound passport. Click a suggestion to populate the chat input with the corresponding prompt.

### Available exports

Shows export options that are unlocked based on the data namespaces fulfilled by your canvas cards. If you have both docking results and ADMET data, the platform offers combined export templates that were not available with either dataset alone.

## Static sections

These sections are always present in the action rail. Some are collapsed by default and can be expanded by clicking the section header.

### Content

| Action | Description |
|---|---|
| **Campaign Content** | Browse session results, artifacts, uploads, and documents associated with the current campaign. |
| **Example Datasets** | Load pre-built example molecules, proteins, and datasets to explore platform capabilities. |

### Analyze

| Action | Description |
|---|---|
| **Next Steps** | View all available exports and follow-up actions from fulfilled data. |
| **Dose-Response** | Design dose-response experiments with dilution series. Opens a guided panel. |
| **Validation** | Review validation results and quality metrics for completed jobs. |

### Lab Tools

Collapsed by default.

| Action | Description |
|---|---|
| **Next Steps (Campaign)** | Same as **Next Steps**, but scoped to jobs within a specific campaign. |
| **Protocol Generator** | Generate liquid-handling protocols for OT-2, Hamilton, or Tecan robots. |
| **Plate Map** | Visualize assay plate layout and well metadata. |

### Tools

| Action | Description |
|---|---|
| **AI Tools** | Browse and launch computational tools including ESMFold, DiffDock, REINVENT4, BLAST, and more. Each tool has a guided input form and parameter configuration. |

> The Tools section is expanded by default for new users to improve tool discoverability. You can collapse it once you are familiar with the available tools.

### Automation

| Action | Description |
|---|---|
| **Automation** | Set up tool chains, parameter sweeps, and AI-suggested automation workflows. |

### Sandbox

| Action | Description |
|---|---|
| **Sandbox Terminal** | View the chat sandbox's consolidated output, files, and command history. A status dot on the section shows whether the sandbox is creating or active. |

### Discover & Select

| Action | Description |
|---|---|
| **Discovery Search** | Search datasets and triage molecules with AI-powered filtering. |
| **Chemical Search** | Advanced chemical structure and property search using substructure and similarity queries. |
| **Protein Prep** | Prepare protein structures for docking and analysis (protonation, quality checks, binding site identification). |
| **RDKit** | Access a large set of molecular descriptors, fingerprints, and 3D conformer generation. |

### Fulfill Namespaces

| Action | Description |
|---|---|
| **Jobs Dashboard** | Opens a floating window to monitor job status, queues, and compute resources across all your projects. |
| **Export Discovery** | See what data is still needed to unlock specific export templates. |
| **Benchling Export** | Export data to Benchling LIMS in CSV or SDF format. |

### Generate Reports

| Action | Description |
|---|---|
| **Reports Catalog** | Browse 37 report templates spanning compound passports, target assessments, safety profiles, and more. |
| **Report Composer** | Create and customize analysis reports with selected data and formatting options. |
| **Passports & Exports** | View entity passports (compound, target, safety, literature, therapeutic area) and download data bundles. |
| **Document Exports** | Export documents in PDF, Markdown, or Word format from chat content and canvas cards. |
| **Report History** | Access previously generated reports for download or re-generation. |

### History & Exports

| Action | Description |
|---|---|
| **Job History** | Browse the full job history for the current campaign, resubmit jobs, and track workflows. |
| **Exports History** | View and re-download previous exports. |
| **Bundles Viewer** | Inspect files bundled with job results (PDB, SDF, CSV, logs). |
| **Format Exports** | Export data in specialized formats for Prism, MATLAB, Spotfire, and instrument files. |

### Usage

| Action | Description |
|---|---|
| **Token Usage** | View your token balance, session consumption, and refresh schedule. |

### Settings

| Action | Description |
|---|---|
| **Tool Settings** | Configure tool-specific default parameters, model preferences, and output formats. |

### Help

| Action | Description |
|---|---|
| **Help & Support** | Access documentation, tutorials, quick-start guides, and support contact information. |

## Contextual actions

A contextual section sits at the bottom of the action rail. When you select one or more canvas cards, it lists actions for their card type; with nothing selected it reads "Select a card for actions" (and is hidden when the rail is collapsed). Examples include:

- **Export PDB**, **Export SDF**, **Export CSV** -- Download data from the selected cards.
- **Compare** -- Compare selected structures or ADMET results.
- **Run DiffDock**, **Run ADMET**, **Plan Synthesis** -- Run a follow-up tool using the selected card's data as input.

## Quick action chips

The chat input area includes quick action chips -- small clickable buttons that insert common prompts into the input bar. These chips are organized by category (discovery, analysis, biologics, genomics) and provide accessible starting points for new users.
