# The admin console

> Sign in, find your way around, and the three working areas of the UI.

_Updated: 2026-06-07_

Every Railbase instance ships with a full admin console at **`/_/`** — a
single-page app embedded in the binary. It's where you manage data, users,
settings, logs, and backups without writing any code.

![The Railbase admin console dashboard](/docs/rb-admin-dashboard.png "The admin dashboard: a quick health overview with live request, error, audit, and job metrics.")

## Signing in

Go to `http://your-host/_/`. Sign in with an admin account (create one with
`railbase admin create you@example.com` — see [Quickstart](quickstart)). If the
account has two-factor enabled, you'll be prompted for a 6-digit code; you can
also use a recovery code. On a brand-new install with no admins yet, the screen
points you at the `admin create` command, and a one-step setup wizard is available
at `/_/bootstrap`.

```walkthrough
target: admin
fresh: true
title: Signing in
steps:
  - say: Head to slash-underscore-slash and you reach the sign-in screen.
    do: navigate
    value: /_/login
    expect: { text: Railbase admin }
  - say: Enter your admin email.
    do: fill
    on: { label: Email }
    value: admin@example.com
  - say: And your password.
    do: fill
    on: { label: Password }
    value: AdminP@ss123
  - say: Sign in, and you're in the console.
    do: click
    on: { role: button, name: Sign in }
    expect: { text: Collections }
```

![The Railbase admin sign-in screen](/docs/rb-admin-login.png "The admin sign-in screen at /_/ — password, with optional two-factor on accounts that enrolled it.")

## Getting around

The console is organized into **three top tabs**, each with its own sidebar:

| Tab | What's there |
|---|---|
| **Data** | Your collections, the schema editor, records, and system tables |
| **Logs** | The audit timeline, realtime monitor, health/metrics, cache |
| **Settings** | Auth, mailer, users & roles, backups, webhooks, marketplace, and more |

```walkthrough
target: admin
title: A tour of the console
steps:
  - say: The console opens on the Dashboard — a quick health overview of your instance.
    do: navigate
    value: /_/
    expect: { text: Dashboard }
  - say: The top cards show your collection count and recent audit events.
    do: hover
    on: { text: Collections, first: true }
  - say: Live request and error rates update as traffic flows.
    do: hover
    on: { text: "Requests/min" }
  - say: The Data tab is your working database — collections, the schema editor, and records.
    do: navigate
    value: /_/data/posts
    expect: { role: button, name: "+ New" }
  - say: Here's the posts collection — filter, sort, and inline-edit, right in the grid.
    do: hover
    on: { text: Welcome to Railbase, first: true }
  - say: The Logs tab is a tamper-evident audit timeline of every action.
    do: navigate
    value: /_/logs/audit
    expect: { text: Logs }
  - say: Health and metrics shows runtime, jobs, and live request and latency charts.
    do: navigate
    value: /_/logs/health
    expect: { text: "Health & metrics" }
  - say: Memory, goroutines, and P95 latency, refreshed every few seconds.
    do: hover
    on: { text: MEMORY, first: true }
  - say: And Settings is where auth, the mailer, backups, and more all live.
    do: navigate
    value: /_/settings
    expect: { text: Application }
    minDwellSec: 2
```

Other chrome:

- A **language switcher** (the admin is localized into 10 languages).
- A **Docs** button (book icon) opening the in-product documentation at `/_/docs`.
- A **⌘K command palette** for jumping anywhere quickly.
- The **version chip** in the sidebar header — hover for build details, click for
  health.
- Your **account menu** in the sidebar footer: account settings and sign out.

> [!NOTE]
> Dark mode follows your operating system automatically — there's no manual theme
> toggle.

## Where to go next

- [Managing data](managing-data) — collections, records, import/export.
- [Users & access](users-and-access) — users, roles, auth methods, API tokens.
- [Operating from the admin](operations) — logs, backups, mailer, and health.

> [!TIP]
> The admin is powerful — keep it off the public internet or behind your network
> boundary. See [Security](security).