Finding your way around

4 min read

Katabench has two kinds of screens: focused workspaces for writing code, and the main app for choosing what to learn and reviewing your progress. This map helps you get from one to the other without hunting for a hidden menu.

The main app

After you sign in, Home opens your dashboard. On a desktop, the navigation stays on the left. On a phone or tablet, use the menu button in the top bar to open the same destinations.

Destination	What it is for
Home	Your level, XP, streak, gems, activity graph, daily challenge, quests, and a leaderboard preview.
Learning paths	Curated sequences of puzzles with a recommended order, progress, outcomes, time estimates, and completion badges.
Labs	Guided, browser-based project work for topics such as Docker, Aspire, and microservices. This item appears when Labs is available for your account.
Playground	The full puzzle catalog and code workspace.
Activity	Your solved puzzles and graded submission history, with links back to each puzzle.
Achievements	Earned and locked achievements, progress toward threshold-based goals, and your learning-path course badges.
Leaderboard	XP rankings for all time and several recent time windows.
Rewards	The gem shop for titles, Playground themes, and streak freezes.
Account & billing	Your current plan, access limits, renewal or cancellation date, invoices, payment method, and subscription controls.

The top bar also contains the light/dark theme control and your account controls. The page title in that bar tells you which part of the app you are viewing.

The puzzle workspace

The Playground is intentionally full screen. Its problem statement, editor, and results need the space, so the main app sidebar is not shown there.

Use these routes out of the workspace:

Select the level, streak, and gem control to open the dashboard, or choose Dashboard in the signed-in user menu.
Use the Labs shortcut, when present, to open the Labs catalog.
On mobile, use the list button to open the puzzle catalog, then switch between Problem, Code, and Results along the bottom.

The playground keeps the currently selected puzzle in the address bar. You can bookmark a puzzle, share its link, or use the browser Back and Forward buttons without losing your place in the app.

Learning-path sessions

Starting or continuing a learning path opens the same playground, but the puzzle list switches to the path's ordered route. A bar above the workspace shows the current path and offers Exit. You can still switch the list to All puzzles when you want open practice, then return to the path view.

Solving a path puzzle from the ordinary catalog still counts. A learning path is an ordering and a progress view, not a separate copy of each exercise.

Lab workspaces

A Lab is also full screen, but it has different navigation because it represents a temporary project workspace. The top bar shows the Lab name, session status, remaining session time, full-screen control, a link back to the Playground, and the theme switch.

On smaller screens, Labs separate the instructions and editor into Guide and Code & output tabs. On desktop, both stay visible side by side.

Signing in and what follows you

You can try the playground without an account. Signing in adds the parts that need a durable learner profile: activity history, cross-device solved progress, XP, streaks, quests, achievements, leaderboards, rewards, course completion, and saved Lab progress.

Your in-progress puzzle editor buffer, custom Run input, revealed hints, and some workspace display choices are kept in the current browser. Clearing site data can remove those local items even when your signed-in solved history remains safe. See Plans, limits & billing for account and subscription details.

Useful direct links

If a direct link asks you to sign in, complete sign-in and return to the same destination.