--- title: "Quick tour" space: "BenchPress Documentation" url: "https://docs.benchpress.cloud/docs/user/quick-tour" updated: "2026-08-29" --- # Quick tour This page names every screen in BenchPress and reads the first one out loud. After it, you know which screen owns which task. **Who this is for.** Anybody who has just been given a BenchPress login. **Before you start.** You need the server address and your login. You do not need the VPN to read a screen. You do need it to open a bench site, and step 3 says where to fix that. ## Steps 1. Open `/frontend` on your BenchPress server. The app sends you to `/login` until you have a session. Sign in there, then open `/frontend` again. 2. Read the Overview dashboard. It is the screen you land on. ![the BenchPress Overview dashboard at 1280 by 800 pixels.](/files/docs-images/user/quick-tour/01-overview.png) *the BenchPress Overview dashboard at 1280 by 800 pixels. The left sidebar holds the account button, Search with the Ctrl K shortcut, Notifications with a badge of 3, and the five screens Overview, Labs, Templates, Instances and Devices. The header shows the breadcrumb BenchPress / Overview and a green VPN connected chip. Four stat tiles read Running 7 of 13, Stopped 4, Needs attention 5 errored or unhealthy, and Deploy time average 43 seconds over 50 runs in the last 7 days. The All instances card below lists six benches with health and status pills, and the right column stacks Recent activity over Shared infrastructure. (source image: )* The greeting names you. The line under it counts what you own. In the frame above it reads `13 instances · 7 running, 4 stopped`. The four tiles carry the numbers worth reading first. | Tile | Value in the frame | What it counts | |---|---|---| | Running | 7 of 13 | Benches that are up, against every bench you can see | | Stopped | 4 | Benches that exist but are not running | | Needs attention | 5 | Benches that errored or stopped answering health checks | | Deploy time (avg) | 43s, 50 runs, last 7 days | Mean deploy time over the sampled runs | The deploy-time window is 7 days because BenchPress clears deploy logs after 7 days. The statistic never claims a longer window than the data behind it. The card under the tiles lists your benches, six at most. Each row carries a name, the site address, a health pill and a status pill. A running bench offers **Open site**. A broken one offers **View** instead. | Bench in the frame | Health | Status | |---|---|---| | `bench-client-frappe-16` | Healthy | Running | | `bench-password-manager` | Unknown | Error | | `bench-erpnext` | Healthy | Running | | `bench-crm` (three instances) | Healthy | Running | **Recent activity** on the right lists the last six deploys, builds and bench events, newest first. In the frame it reports a failed `bench-password-manager` deploy, a `password-manager` image built in 26 minutes 5 seconds, and one bench that stopped responding and then recovered. **Shared infrastructure** is the admin-only card below it. It checks the host, not any one bench. In the frame Docker socket, Docker network and Bridge capacity are Active, and Kernel ceilings reports an error: `kernel.pty.max` is 4096, below the 9024 that 1000 benches need. That check names the host command that fixes it. 3. Move through the sidebar. Five items, top to bottom, and each one owns a different object. Watch the chip in the header while you go. Green and reading **VPN connected** means bench sites open. Amber and reading **VPN off** means they do not. The chip is a link to **Devices**, which is where you fix it. ## Verify You have read the tour correctly when all four are true. - The sidebar shows your account name under the word BenchPress. - The header breadcrumb reads `BenchPress / Overview`. - Running plus Stopped is no greater than the total in the subtitle. - The VPN chip states a status, green or amber, rather than staying blank. ## Troubleshooting | Symptom | Cause | Fix | |---|---|---| | `/frontend` returns to the login page | You have no session, or it expired | Sign in at `/login`, then open `/frontend` again | | The VPN chip is amber and reads VPN off | This device has no WireGuard tunnel | Open **Devices**, register the device, install the config it gives you | | **Open site** opens nothing | Bench sites resolve only over the VPN | Connect the VPN, then click again | | **Templates** is missing from the sidebar | Templates is admin-only | Ask an admin, or start a bench from **Labs** | | **Needs attention** is above zero | A bench errored or stopped answering | Open **Instances**, open the bench, read its deploy log | | **Credits** is missing everywhere | Credits are off on this server | Nothing to fix. A self-hosted server runs without them | ## Reference ### The five screens | Item | Route | What it holds | Who sees it | |---|---|---|---| | Overview | `/` | The dashboard on this page | Everybody | | Labs | `/labs` | Lab definitions, and the deploy button | Everybody | | Templates | `/labs/templates` | The catalog a lab is built from | Admins | | Instances | `/bench-instances` | Every running container, and deploy history | Everybody | | Devices | `/devices` | Your WireGuard devices and their configs | Everybody | ### Everything else on the shell | Control | Where | What it does | |---|---|---| | Search | Above the nav | Opens the command palette. The shortcut is `Ctrl K` | | Notifications | Above the nav | Opens the panel. The badge counts items that need you | | Account menu | Sidebar header chevron | Settings and Switch to Desk for admins, theme toggle and log out for everybody | | VPN chip | Header, right | States the tunnel status and links to **Devices** | | Credit meter | Sidebar footer | The balance. It renders only while credits are on | ### What an admin sees that you may not The frame above was captured as an administrator. Four things differ for a BenchPress User. | Element | Admin | User | |---|---|---| | Primary button | New lab | New environment | | Instance card heading | All instances | My environments | | Templates in the sidebar | Shown | Hidden | | Shared infrastructure card | Shown | Hidden | A user also sees only their own benches. An admin sees every bench on the server. ## Related - [BenchPress documentation](/docs/index) — the three tracks, and what each one covers.