> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://resources.pipelinebio.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# How to Navigate the Pipeline Bio Platform

> Understand the Navigation Panel, Main Workspace, and Account Controls, and find your way to the Directory, Catalogue, enquiries, RFPs, and Storefront tools.

Pipeline Bio connects life science Members with scientific Providers. The Platform has two primary user types: **Members**, who search for and engage services, and **Providers**, who list and manage their services. A single organisation can hold both roles.

This guide explains how the Platform is laid out and where each task lives.

## The three areas of the Platform

<Steps>
  <Step title="Navigation Panel">
    The Navigation Panel gives access to every primary area of the Platform:

    * **Home**
    * **Directory of Providers**
    * **Catalogue of Capabilities**
    * **My Enquiries**
    * **My RFPs**
    * **My Favourites**
    * **Storefront Management** (Providers only)
    * **Provider Inbox** (Providers only)
    * **Resources**
  </Step>

  <Step title="Main Workspace">
    The Main Workspace displays content for whichever section you have selected: Provider listings, service classifications, enquiries, RFPs, and so on.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Account Controls">
    Select the avatar button to reach Organisation Details and Account Settings.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Where to go for each task

| If you want to                           | Go to                                              |
| ---------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------- |
| Browse Providers by organisation         | Directory of Providers                             |
| Browse services by scientific capability | Catalogue of Capabilities                          |
| Save a Provider for later                | My Favourites                                      |
| Contact a Provider                       | Send enquiry, from a storefront or service listing |
| Track conversations you have started     | My Enquiries                                       |
| Scope a project formally                 | My RFPs                                            |
| Manage your own storefront               | Storefront Management                              |
| Read and answer incoming enquiries       | Provider Inbox                                     |

## Two ways to find services

The Directory and the Catalogue are two routes to the same information, and which you use depends on how you are searching.

Use the **Directory of Providers** when you are thinking in terms of organisations: you know the company, the location, or the type of provider you want.

Use the **Catalogue of Capabilities** when you are thinking in terms of capability: you know the technique, assay, or stage of work you need, but not who performs it.

<Note>
  A Member Account is required to view detailed information in either section.
</Note>

## What the Platform does not do

Pipeline Bio does not rank or endorse Providers, and inclusion in the Directory is not an assessment of quality, capacity, or regulatory standing. Not all services display pricing; quotes follow an enquiry or RFP.

Commercial terms, contracts, and payments are agreed directly between the Member and the Provider, off the Platform.

## Next steps

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Search for scientific services" href="/resources/how-to-guides/search-for-scientific-services">
    Use the Directory, the Catalogue, and the AI Search Agent to build a shortlist.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Send enquiries" href="/resources/how-to-guides/send-enquiries">
    Contact Providers and manage the conversations that follow.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>