Portal Overview

This article provides a basic introduction to the Kentik portal.

Note: For browser support and log in procedures for the portal, see Kentik Portal.

Portal Sections

The Kentik portal consists of features designed to help you efficiently access information for specific networking use cases. In the Portal Main Menu, the most commonly used are featured at the top of the left column: Alerting, AI Advisor, Kentik Map, Library, My Kentik Portal, and Observation Deck. Access to certain modules is dependent on your access level or RBAC permissions.

The remaining modules are categorized into the following main sections:

Notes:

• Additional modules not grouped in the main menu sections are covered in Portal Main Menu.

• The DDoS Defense and Mitigations modules work with Alerting.

• If you aren’t seeing Kentik Kube, it may not be enabled for your account. Please contact your Kentik Account Team.

Portal Page Structure

The basic structure of portal pages is covered in this section.

Portal Page Layout

The portal layout’s main elements are similar across most pages:

• Navbar: The primary horizontal navigation bar at the top of the screen. It includes links to global portal functions, such as search, notifications, and user settings (see Portal Navbar).

• Subnav: The secondary horizontal bar located immediately below the navbar. Its layout and available controls dynamically update based on the specific module or page you are viewing (see Portal Subnav).

• Main menu: The navigation overlay accessed via the hamburger menu icon in the upper-left corner. It provides categorized access to all portal modules, workflows, and frequently used pages (see Portal Main Menu).

• Main content: The central workspace of the screen. This area houses your data visualizations, tables, query controls, and sidebars, which vary depending on your active workflow.

Portal Navbar

The portal's main navbar is located at the top of the screen and includes the following options from left to right:

• Menu (hamburger icon): Opens the main menu, allowing navigation to portal modules and workflows (see Portal Main Menu).

• Kentik logo: Links to your designated landing page (see User-Specific Defaults).

• Search: Opens the global Search modal to find portal text, favorites, and recently viewed pages (see Portal Search).

• Ask: Opens AI Advisor in overlay mode.

• Device Discovery: Opens the Device Discovery page. Icon includes a badge for the number of devices discovered. Hover to get a summary popup.

• Product Updates (megaphone icon): Opens a popup containing the latest portal and Kentik product changes (see Product Updates).

• Help and Support (question mark icon): Opens the Help and Support popup to search the Knowledge Base or submit a ticket (see Portal Help and Support).

• Organization settings (building icon): Drops down a menu of organization-wide settings (see Organization Settings).

• User settings (user icon): Drops down a menu of user-specific settings, including theme preferences and the option to log out (see User Menu).

Note: In addition to the Organization Settings and User menus, various administrative settings can be accessed via the central Main Settings page.

Product Updates

Accessed via the megaphone icon in the navbar, this popup keeps you informed about recent Kentik features and improvements:

• Product Updates: Click the external link icon to launch the Kentik Product Updates page in a new tab.

• Close: Click X to close the popup.

• Subscribe: Click to receive product updates via email, Slack, or RSS.

• Search: Use the search bar to find specific updates.

• Article List: Displays cards for recent updates. Click anywhere on a card to open the full release note in a new tab.

• Feedback: Use the emoticons (happy, neutral, sad) or enter text at the bottom of any article card to submit quick feedback to the Product team.

Note: Click on any element except the feedback controls to open the full article in a new tab.

Portal Subnav

The subnav is the secondary horizontal strip located directly below the navbar. Its contents adapt to the specific page you are viewing. It typically includes:

• Breadcrumbs: Indicates your current location within the portal and provides links to navigate up to a higher level.

• Page-Specific Buttons: Contextual controls for the active module, such as refreshing data, sharing content, creating a dashboard panel, or adjusting query parameters.

Notes:

• Breadcrumbs and page-specific buttons may not be available on some pages.

• Several module landing pages, such as Observation Deck and Alerting, do not feature a subnav.

Portal Main Menu

The portal’s main menu is accessed via the hamburger menu icon at the far left of the navbar. It acts as your primary navigation hub and includes the following areas:

• Featured (top left): Quick links to commonly used workflows, including Alerting, AI Advisor, Kentik Map, Library, My Kentik Portal, and Observation Deck.

• Portal sections (center columns): Categorized links to all available portal modules (e.g., Core, Network Monitoring System, Service Provider). See Portal Sections for a complete breakdown of these modules.

• 

  Top Talkers and Settings (bottom left): Hover over either of these options to display a contextual submenu. Click directly on the links to open Network Explorer or Settings, respectively.

• Discover (top right): Helpful internal and external resources, including the Knowledge Base, Product Blog, Integrations, a Demo Environment, and the API Tester.

• Recently Viewed (bottom right): A quick-access history of your most recently visited portal pages.

  Note: The portal sections list is covered by a contextual submenu when you hover over Top Talkers or Settings.

Portal Search

The portal’s global search functionality allows you to instantly find network entities, dashboards, and settings. You can also navigate directly to specific portal screens or features. The portal search modal is accessible from the Search field in the main navbar or via keyboard shortcuts.

AI-powered Navigation Search

The global portal search integrates with Kentik’s AI infrastructure to provide intelligent, natural language navigation. Even if you don’t remember the exact name of a workflow or module, you can search using conversational phrases. For example, entering “track IP transit notices” locates the Discover Peers feature. Search automatically identifies the relevant portal screen, lists it under the Navigation section of your results, and provides a direct link to its primary Knowledge Base (KB) article.

The search interface implements the following features:

• Ask AI Advisor: Converts your active search string into an interactive AI Advisor prompt. Clicking this option at the top of the search results launches the AI Advisor chat overlay with the query pre-filled with your search string.

• Natural Language Navigation: Employs prompt-based navigation logic. For example, entering "Interface Classification" displays all matching or related portal and KB entries. You can also input complex questions such as "Where can I track my transit costs?" to surface relevant features like Connectivity Costs.

Notes:

• Search results respect your Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) permissions and will not return screens or features you do not have access to.

• The AI-powered natural language matching is active only if AI is enabled for your organization; however, standard dictionary-based navigation and object search remain active regardless.

• The search is incremental, so you don’t need to press return after entering the term.

Portal Search UI

The portal search UI popup is organized into the following key components:

• Search bar: Extending across the top of the modal, the search bar includes:

  • Text input field: Area for entering search terms or natural language queries.

  • Clear Search Button (esc): Clears entered text while keeping the modal open.

  • Help button (?): Displays keyboard shortcuts.

• Lozenge Tab Bar and Shortcut Indicators: Contains the main portal search tabs (Favorites, Recents, and Search Results) along with on-screen keyboard shortcut prompts.

• Ask AI Advisor Banner:  Located at the top of the search results area. Clicking this banner converts your active search string into a prompt and opens the AI advisor chat overlay pre-filled with your query.

• Main Results Display Area: Displays matching entries arranged by category. Categories include ASNs, CDNs, Cost Snapshots, Dashboards, Devices, Navigation, OTT Services, and Synthetic Tests.

  Notes:

  • A maximum of five search results appear under each category. Click +[number] more to display the remaining entries.

  • Hover over the search result and click the return key to be directed to that search result in the portal. In the Navigation category only, you can also click on the KB icon to be directed to that KB entry.

• Category Filter Sidebar: Positioned on the right side of the modal. Displays the counts for matching objects and allows you to filter visible results by category.

Portal Search Tabs

The top of the Search modal features three lozenge-style tabs to help you navigate your data:

Notes:

• When you open the Search modal without any text entered, it will default to your Favorites. If you have no favorites, it defaults to Recents, and if you have no recent history, it defaults to the empty Search Results tab.

• Changes to Favorites in the Search popup are not reflected until the next time you open the popup.

Portal Help and Support

The Help and Support popup opens from the question mark icon in the Portal Navbar. In this popup you can do the following:

• Knowledge Base: A button that opens the Kentik KB (in a new tab) and shows a list of articles that may be useful for using or understanding your current portal location (URL).

• Submit a Support Request: Fill out this form to report bugs, request help, or submit observations (see How to Submit a Support Request).

Portal Keyboard Shortcuts

Listed below are the global Kentik portal shortcuts, which can be used anywhere except within the Search modal. For search-specific hotkeys, see Search Keyboard Shortcuts below.

Search Keyboard Shortcuts

The Search modal includes several dedicated keyboard shortcuts to help you navigate your results quickly.

Legacy Portal: As of March 31, 2025, Kentik’s v3 portal is fully retired and is no longer accessible. For help transitioning to our current portal, see Customer Care.