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

The app opens on the Playground. On a desktop, the navigation rail stays on the left and can be collapsed to icons; the choice is remembered in that browser. On a phone or tablet, use the menu button in the top bar to open the same destinations as a drawer.

Destination	What it is for
Dashboard	Your next practice session, level, XP, streak, gems, activity graph, daily challenge, quests, a leaderboard preview, and your Labs progress.
Playground	The full puzzle catalog and code workspace.
System Design Studio	The visual architecture challenges, with their own catalog. Appears when the Studio is available for your account.
Learning paths	Curated sequences of puzzles with a recommended order, progress, outcomes, time estimates, and completion badges.
Labs	Guided, browser-based project work. The beta currently contains one short transactional outbox course on real PostgreSQL and RabbitMQ. This item appears when Labs is available for your account.
Activity	Your solved puzzles and graded submission history, with links back to each puzzle.
Achievements	Your learning-path course badges, then earned and locked achievements with progress toward threshold-based goals.
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, and the link to the billing portal where invoices, payment method, and cancellation live.

Signed-out visitors also see Pricing in the navigation. The top bar contains the page title, a notifications bell for product announcements when you are signed in, the light/dark theme control, and your account controls. The account menu manages your identity, email, and password; product destinations live in the navigation.

The puzzle workspace

The Playground shares the app navigation, so the dashboard, paths, and account are always one click away. Its own left panel is the puzzle list: collapse the navigation rail when you want the problem statement, editor, and results to have the full width.

On desktop, the puzzle list sits beside the editor; a slim strip above the workspace shows the daily challenge and your closest quest when you are signed in.
On mobile, use the list button to open the puzzle catalog as a drawer, 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.

Signed-in learners also get their in-progress puzzle code and Studio canvas synced as drafts, so a half-finished attempt reopens on another device. Custom Run input and some workspace display choices stay in the current browser, and clearing site data removes those local items even though your signed-in history and drafts remain 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.