Sidebar and links

Every resource adds itself to the sidebar, linking to its index page. The command palette (Ctrl+K, or Cmd+K on a Mac) lists the same items.

Resource itemsCopy Anchor Link

admin.AddEfCoreResource<Booking>(resource =>
{
    resource.SidebarItem(item =>
    {
        item.Group = "Sales";
        item.Label = "All bookings";
        item.Icon = "ticket";
        item.Order = 1;
    });
});

Hiding an item doesn't protect its pages. Use authorization for that. Items for resources someone can't access are hidden automatically.

Icons are per item. An item without one doesn't leave a gap, so give every item in a group an icon, or none.

Your own linksCopy Anchor Link

AddSidebarLink links to your app's pages, MVC actions, or any URL:

using StellarAdmin.Sidebar;

admin.AddSidebarLink("Departures this week", SidebarLinkTarget.Page("/Admin/Departures"), link =>
{
    link.Group = "Sales";
    link.Icon = "calendar";
});

admin.AddSidebarLink("Invoices", SidebarLinkTarget.Action("Index", "Invoices"));

admin.AddSidebarLink("Help centre", SidebarLinkTarget.Url("https://help.voyager.travel"), link =>
{
    link.Group = "Help";
    link.OpenInNewTab = true;
});

Page and Action targets point outside any area, so they reach your app's own pages. Pass an area if you need one. Url takes absolute URLs and ~/ paths.

A link without a Group sits at the top level, without a heading.

link.RequireAuthorization(...) hides the link from people who don't meet the requirement. It doesn't protect the page it links to: put [Authorize] on that page.

If a Page or Action target doesn't exist, Development shows the link in red with the reason, like "No page /Admin/Departures". In other environments it's hidden and a warning is logged.

To show your own pages inside the panel's layout, see host pages.

OrderCopy Anchor Link

Groups with the same name merge, whether their items come from resources or links. Within a group, items with an Order come first, then the rest in the order you added them. So usually, writing your registrations in the order you want is enough.

Groups sit in the order their first item was added. To change that, or sort a group's items by label, configure the group:

admin.ConfigureSidebarGroup("Catalogue", group => group.Order = 1);
admin.ConfigureSidebarGroup("Sales", group => group.Order = 2);
admin.ConfigureSidebarGroup("Settings", group => group.SortItemsByLabel = true);

Configuring a group doesn't add it. It shows up when something is in it.

Or sort everything by label:

admin.ConfigureSidebar(sidebar =>
{
    sidebar.SortGroupsByLabel = true;
    sidebar.SortItemsByLabel = true;
});

Anything with an Order still comes first.

Items from codeCopy Anchor Link

When the items depend on the request or your data, implement ISidebarItemsProvider:

using StellarAdmin.Sidebar;

public class UpcomingTripsSidebarItemsProvider(VoyagerDbContext db) : ISidebarItemsProvider
{
    public async Task<IReadOnlyList<SidebarItem>> GetItemsAsync(
        HttpContext httpContext, CancellationToken cancellationToken)
    {
        var trips = await db.Trips
            .Where(trip => trip.IsPublished)
            .OrderBy(trip => trip.Name)
            .Take(3)
            .ToListAsync(cancellationToken);

        return
        [
            new SidebarGroupItem(
                "Featured trips",
                trips.Select(trip => new SidebarLinkItem(trip.Name, $"~/stellaradmin/trips/edit/{trip.Id}")
                {
                    Icon = "plane",
                })),
        ];
    }
}

builder.Services.AddScoped<ISidebarItemsProvider, UpcomingTripsSidebarItemsProvider>();

Return groups of SidebarLinkItem, SidebarActionLinkItem or SidebarPageLinkItem. They merge with the other items, by group name.

The provider runs on every panel page, so keep it fast. It's also up to you to leave out items the user shouldn't see.