# Interface overview

Solo is organized around a project sidebar, a main work area, and a compact title bar with status actions.

## Main areas

- **Sidebar** — projects and their sections: Todos, Agents, Terminals, Commands, and Scratchpads.
- **Main area** — the selected process, todo list, scratchpad, prompt templates, activity monitor, settings page, or project view.
- **Title bar** — the current selection title, license status, process notifications, and update indicator.
- **Settings** — app preferences, integrations, license/account controls, acknowledgements, and update checks.

## Sidebar basics

The sidebar is where you navigate between projects and processes.

- Click a project, section, process, todo, or scratchpad to view or interact with it.
- Right-click for context menus with project and process actions.
- Select a section header to open its [section overview](../sidebar/section-splash-screens.md), or use its chevron to collapse it.
- [Reorder projects and sections](../projects/reordering-projects.md) to match how you work.
- Use [sidebar settings](../settings/sidebar-settings.md) to hide empty sections, and **Settings -> Notes & todos** to show or hide optional Todos/Scratchpads sections.

## Terminal basics

For a selected trusted, runnable command, terminal-backed agent, or terminal, the main area shows live output and lifecycle controls. An untrusted command shows the trust-review surface instead.

- [Focus state](../terminal/focus-behavior.md) controls whether your keystrokes go to the terminal or to app navigation.
- Process controls ([start, stop, restart](../commands/start-stop-restart.md)) depend on process state and kind. For commands, [trust status](../commands/trust-security.md) gates Start and Restart but not Stop.
- Running processes can request attention; the title bar bell groups [unread process notifications](../notifications/indicators.md).

## License and updates

The right side of the title bar shows account and maintenance status:

- Free users see project usage and an **Upgrade** button.
- License-required or validation-required states show an activation prompt.
- Available updates show an **Update** badge; downloaded updates show **Relaunch**.

For the mental model behind these areas, read [Solo's core concepts](./concepts.md). Once you are juggling several active projects, [Daily operating patterns](../workflows/daily-operating-patterns.md) shows how the pieces work together.

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Are you a human? Read this doc on the web: https://soloterm.com/docs/getting-started/interface-overview