> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.mercora.io/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Navigating Mercora > A tour of the sidebar and the main areas of Mercora, and which ones depend on a workspace module. This page helps you find your way around: what each sidebar area is for, and why yours might look different from a colleague's. Everything in Mercora is reached from the sidebar on the left, and what you see there depends on two things: * **Modules**: the parts of Mercora your workspace admin has turned on. See [Modules](https://docs.mercora.io/concepts/modules.md). * **Your role**: an area only appears if your role lets you at least view it. See [Roles and permissions](https://docs.mercora.io/concepts/roles-and-permissions.md). So two people in the same workspace can see different sidebars. If something described here is missing for you, ask your workspace admin. ![The Mercora sidebar](https://mintcdn.com/placeholder-f4ffdeec/22McaegbdDRSI41b/images/getting-started/sidebar.png?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=22McaegbdDRSI41b\&q=85\&s=31d3e6aa5ca181370ca038038367d960) The sidebar for Veltana Commodities SA: Home and Inbox at the top, the Workspace section, then Settings and the user menu at the bottom. ## The sidebar at a glance The sidebar lists areas in this order. Areas whose module starts off in a new workspace are marked "Off". | Area | What it's for | Module | Starts | | - | - | - | - | | **Home** | The Copilot assistant and your overview cards | Dashboard, Copilot | On | | **Inbox** | Review, match and approve documents and other items | Document inbox | On | | **Trades** | Your trade book and each trade's details | Trades | On | | **Contracts** | Purchase and sales contracts as standalone records | Contracts | Off | | **Derivatives** | The futures ledger | Derivatives | Off | | **Shipments** | Cargo movements across all trades | Shipments | Off | | **Financials** | Every invoice in the workspace | Financials | Off | | **Counterparties** | Buyer, supplier, broker and bank records | Counterparties | Off | | **P\&L** | Realized and open margin across your book | P\&L | Off | | **Reports** | Operations, cashflow and overdue-payment reports | Reports | Off | | **Automations** | Standing instructions that check your data and report what they find | Automations | Off | | **Upload** | Upload documents by hand | Document upload | On | | **Settings** | Your account, and workspace settings for admins | Always shown | | Trades through Upload sit under a **Workspace** heading in the sidebar. Settings sits at the bottom, above the menu under your name. ## Home Home is where you land after signing in. It brings together two things, each with its own module: * **Copilot**: the **Mercora AI** box, an assistant you can ask about your trades, documents and numbers, for example "What's the status of VCS-S-2026-0714?". It only sees the data your role can already see. See [Copilot](https://docs.mercora.io/copilot/overview.md). * **Overview cards**: tiles such as **Active trades**, **Total exposure**, **Review queue** and **Contracted margin**. They only show data your role can already see. Workspace admins choose which cards appear with **Edit cards**. > [!NOTE] > > Copilot is available when the **Copilot** module is turned on for your workspace, and the overview cards when the **Dashboard** module is on. Ask your workspace admin. ## Inbox The Inbox is your work queue. Documents land here after Mercora has read them, and you review, match and approve them here. Other workflows, such as deal capture, hedging and automations, also send items here for you to decide on. Items are grouped into tabs: * **Needs you**: you're the next step, for example to review, match or approve. * **Waiting**: Mercora is still processing, or the item is waiting on someone else. * **Done**: approved, booked or rejected. * **Filtered**: items Mercora set aside as not needing attention. It sits apart from the main tabs. You can also upload documents from the **Upload** button at the top of the Inbox. See [The Inbox](https://docs.mercora.io/documents/inbox.md). ## Trades Trades is your trade book. Open a trade to see its tabs: * **Overview**: a summary of the trade. * **Documents**: every document matched to the trade. * **Discrepancies**: what doesn't line up between the trade and its documents. * **Financials**: receivables and payables (AR/AP) and invoice reconciliation. Shown when the **Trade financials** module is on. * **Shipments**: the vessels and containers carrying the cargo. Shown when the **Shipments (trade tab)** module is on. See [Trades overview](https://docs.mercora.io/trades/overview.md). ## Contracts Purchase and sales contracts kept as records of their own, which you can pair into deals. See [Contracts](https://docs.mercora.io/records/contracts.md). > [!NOTE] > > Available when the **Contracts** module is turned on for your workspace. Ask your workspace admin. ## Derivatives The futures ledger: fills from your broker, manual entries, and allocating a fill against a contract. See [Derivatives](https://docs.mercora.io/records/derivatives.md). > [!NOTE] > > Available when the **Derivatives** module is turned on for your workspace. It also needs the **Counterparties** module for the broker. Ask your workspace admin. ## Shipments Cargo movements across all your trades (vessels, containers and trucks) with a route map and links back to each trade. See [Shipments](https://docs.mercora.io/trades/shipments.md). > [!NOTE] > > Available when the **Shipments** module is turned on for your workspace. Ask your workspace admin. ## Financials The workspace-wide list of invoices, separate from the **Financials** tab on a single trade. See [Financials](https://docs.mercora.io/finance/financials.md). > [!NOTE] > > Available when the **Financials** module is turned on for your workspace. Ask your workspace admin. ## Counterparties Your buyers, suppliers, brokers and banks, with KYC (know your customer) details, trading terms and what each one owes you or is owed. See [Counterparties](https://docs.mercora.io/records/counterparties.md). > [!NOTE] > > Available when the **Counterparties** module is turned on for your workspace. Ask your workspace admin. ## P\&L Realized and open margin by commodity, book and delivery month, in the currency you choose. See [P\&L](https://docs.mercora.io/finance/pnl.md). > [!NOTE] > > Available when the **P\&L** module is turned on for your workspace. Ask your workspace admin. ## Reports Reports has up to three parts, each with its own module under Reports: * **Operations**: pipeline health, how long discrepancies have been open, and document completeness. * **Cashflow**: revenue and cost on a cash basis, with a breakdown of ancillary costs. * **Overdue payments**: unpaid invoices past their due date, by counterparty. See [Reports](https://docs.mercora.io/finance/reports.md). > [!NOTE] > > Available when the **Reports** module is turned on for your workspace. Ask your workspace admin. ## Automations Automations are standing instructions that read the data they're allowed to see and report what they find. Anything an automation would change waits for a person to approve. See [Automations](https://docs.mercora.io/workflows/automations.md). > [!NOTE] > > Available when the **Automations** module is turned on for your workspace. Ask your workspace admin. ## Upload Upload documents by hand, one or many at a time. See [Uploading documents](https://docs.mercora.io/documents/uploading.md). ## Settings Click **Settings** at the bottom of the sidebar. What you see depends on your role: * **Personal** (everyone): **Account** (your name, password and two-factor authentication), **Notifications**, and **Integrations** for your own connections. * **Workspace** (admins): **Workspace** (company profile and modules), **Data model**, **Integrations**, and settings for modules your workspace uses, such as **Books**, **Entities**, **Derivatives**, **Freight house rules** and **Contract templates**. * **Administration**: **Members** and **Roles** (admins, and members whose role includes User access), and **API** (admins). Some module settings, such as **Freight house rules** and **Contract templates**, also appear for members whose role has access to that workflow. Click **Back to app** at the top of Settings to return. See [Workspace settings](https://docs.mercora.io/admin/workspace-settings.md). ## Your user menu Click your name at the bottom of the sidebar to open your **Account** settings, switch between **Light**, **Dark** and **System** themes, or **Log out**. ## Next steps > **[Walkthrough](https://docs.mercora.io/getting-started/walkthrough.md)** > > See these areas at work on one sugar trade, from documents to P\&L. > **[How Mercora works](https://docs.mercora.io/concepts/how-mercora-works.md)** > > Follow a document from arrival to approval. > **[Uploading documents](https://docs.mercora.io/documents/uploading.md)** > > Get your first documents into Mercora. This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.