Getting started

Use this guide to understand the VerifyWise platform interface, navigate between features, and access key functionality through the dashboard, sidebar navigation, and action buttons.

Prerequisites

Permissions

• All role levels (Admin, Editor, Viewer) have access to the main interface

• Some features require specific roles for full access (noted in individual sections)

Access

• Log in to your VerifyWise account to access the dashboard

Overview

VerifyWise organizes AI governance and compliance tools across a structured navigation interface. Access discovery tools, assurance features, governance capabilities, and management functions through a persistent sidebar, contextual action buttons, and breadcrumb navigation.

The interface consists of four main components:

• Dashboard: Landing page displaying project cards, compliance metrics, and quick-access creation buttons

• Sidebar navigation: Hierarchical menu with three feature sections (Discovery, Assurance, Governance), management tools, and user profile

• Top navigation bar: Breadcrumb trail showing your current location plus action buttons for Integrations and Automations

• User profile section: Account details, role information, and access to support and settings

Understanding the dashboard

The dashboard serves as your landing page after login, displaying project cards with compliance metrics and providing quick access to create use cases.

Dashboard components

Breadcrumb navigation Displays your current location in the platform hierarchy. The trail begins with "Dashboard" and extends with each navigation action. Click any breadcrumb link except the current page to jump directly to that level without traversing intermediate pages.

Action buttons Two buttons appear in the top right corner of every page:

• Integrations: Purple gradient button accessible only to Admin users for configuring third-party service connections (appears with reduced opacity for non-Admin roles)

• Automations: Orange gradient button accessible to all users for creating and managing workflow automations

Project cards Each card displays a single use case with key information:

• Project name and description

• Compliance status percentage

• Assessment progress showing completed assessments versus total assessments

• Control completion showing completed sub-controls versus total sub-controls

• Last updated timestamp in YYYY-MM-DD format

Organization-wide metrics Summary sections above project cards aggregate data across all projects:

• All projects compliance status: Overall compliance percentage calculated from all active projects

• Assessments: Percentage complete with fraction display (example: "15 done / 20 total" with 75% complete)

• Controls: Percentage complete with sub-control fraction display (example: "42 done / 60 total" with 70% complete)

Creating a new use case

Locate the New use case button or creation card on the dashboard. Click to open a form where you enter project details, compliance frameworks, and initial settings. Use this to register new AI systems or projects requiring governance oversight.

Navigating the sidebar

The sidebar delivers primary navigation to all platform features through a hierarchical menu organized into logical sections with consistent iconography.

Sidebar structure

The sidebar contains five areas arranged vertically:

1. Header section: VerifyWise logo with version number (click to return to dashboard from any page)

2. Quick access items: Dashboard and Tasks links with task count badge

3. Feature sections: Three categorized groups organizing related functionality (Discovery, Assurance, Governance)

4. Management dropdown: Administrative tools including Settings, Event Tracker, and demo data controls

5. User profile section: Account details with access to support, settings, and sign out

Quick access items

Two items occupy the top position in the sidebar menu, above all feature sections:

• Dashboard Returns you to the main landing page from any location in the platform. The home icon and background highlight in green when the dashboard is active, providing visual confirmation of your current location.

• Tasks Opens your personal task list displaying assigned work items. A badge next to the label shows your open task count (example: badge displays "5" when you have five incomplete tasks). When you have 100 or more open tasks, the badge displays "99+" rather than the exact count. The badge updates in real-time as you complete or receive new tasks.

Discovery section

The Discovery section organizes tools for identifying, cataloging, and analyzing AI systems, external vendors, and deployed models.

• Use cases View and manage all AI use cases (projects) in your organization. Access project details including assigned compliance frameworks, linked risk assessments, control mappings, and team member assignments. Each use case represents a distinct AI system or initiative requiring governance.

• Organizational view Navigate your organization's compliance framework hierarchy. Explore relationships between frameworks (ISO 42001, ISO 27001), parent controls, sub-controls, and specific requirements. This view maps organizational structure to compliance obligations.

• Vendors Manage external organizations providing AI products, services, or components. Register vendors, conduct reviews with separation-of-duties validation, track vendor risks with auto-calculated risk levels, and monitor use case dependencies. See Vendors documentation for complete functionality.

• Model Inventory Maintain a comprehensive catalog of AI and LLM models. Register models with provider details, version tracking, capability tags, and approval status (Approved, Restricted, Pending, Blocked). Document security assessments, link models to use cases, and track associated risks through the model lifecycle. See Model Inventory documentation for detailed instructions.

Assurance section

The Assurance section delivers tools for risk assessment, fairness evaluation, training management, evidence collection, and compliance reporting.

• Risk Management Identify, assess, and mitigate risks across all AI systems. Create risk records with severity and likelihood ratings, assign risk owners, document mitigation plans with target dates, and track risk status from identification through closure. Filter risks by category, level, and status to focus on priorities.

• Bias & Fairness Evaluate AI systems for bias, discrimination, and fairness concerns affecting specific demographic groups. Document findings from fairness assessments, analyze disparate impacts across protected characteristics, specify remediation actions, and monitor corrective measure effectiveness over time.

• Training Registry Manage training programs for personnel working with AI systems. Schedule training sessions, assign attendees, track completion status (Planned, In Progress, Completed), record training duration, and maintain historical records demonstrating compliance with training requirements. See Training Registry documentation for complete functionality.

• Evidence Centralize compliance evidence, supporting documentation, and audit artifacts. Upload files (policies, reports, assessments, screenshots), link evidence to specific controls or requirements, tag documents for retrieval, and maintain tamper-evident audit trails showing who uploaded what and when.

• Reporting Generate compliance reports, risk summaries, assessment results, and executive dashboards. Configure report parameters, select data ranges, apply filters for specific frameworks or projects, and export formatted outputs for stakeholder review, auditor submissions, or regulatory filings.

• AI Trust Center Access consolidated trustworthiness metrics, compliance indicators, and governance status across all AI systems. View executive-level summaries showing organizational risk posture, compliance progress, incident trends, and assurance levels. Use this centralized view for strategic decision-making and stakeholder communication.

Governance section

The Governance section provides policy administration and incident response capabilities for maintaining AI system accountability.

• Policy Manager Create, publish, and enforce policies governing AI system development, deployment, and operation. Define policy requirements, establish approval workflows, assign policy owners, set review cycles, and link policies to compliance frameworks. Track policy acknowledgment, monitor compliance, and maintain version history for audit purposes.

• Incident Management Document and respond to AI system incidents including failures, errors, harm events, and adverse outcomes. Record incident details with harm category classification (Health, Safety, Rights, Property, Environment), document impacts, assign investigators, track investigation status (Open, Investigating, Mitigated, Closed), implement corrective actions, and manage approval workflows. See Incident Management documentation for detailed procedures.

Management dropdown

The Management dropdown appears below the three main feature sections, consolidating administrative and system configuration tools. Click the Management list item to reveal available options:

Event Tracker Monitor system activity through comprehensive audit logs. View user actions (logins, record changes, deletions), track timestamps for all events, filter by user or action type, and investigate suspicious activity. Event logs provide evidence for compliance audits and support troubleshooting by showing the sequence of actions leading to issues.

Settings Configure organization-wide system parameters, user account management, role assignments, notification preferences, integration connections, and security settings. Changes in Settings affect all users across the organization. Access requires Admin permissions in most cases.

Create demo data (appears when no demo exists) Populates the system with representative sample data including projects, risks, vendors, incidents, training records, and policies. Use demo data for training new users, testing workflows, or demonstrating features without affecting production records. Demo data is clearly labeled to prevent confusion with real organizational information.

Delete demo data (appears when demo exists) Removes all demo records created by the "Create demo data" function while preserving actual organizational data. Execute this cleanup after completing training sessions or testing cycles to restore the system to production-ready state. Deletion affects only records flagged as demo data during creation.

Using the user profile section

The user profile section occupies the bottom of the sidebar, displaying account information and providing access to support, settings, and sign out functions.

Expanded sidebar view

The expanded sidebar displays three elements:

• Your full name combining first name and surname

• Your role designation (Admin, Editor, or Viewer) shown in capitalized text

• A three-dot vertical menu icon for opening the options menu

Collapsed sidebar view

The collapsed sidebar shows:

• Your user avatar displaying your initial or uploaded profile image

• A tooltip labeled "Options" that appears when you hover over the avatar

Opening the profile menu

Click the three-dot menu icon (when sidebar is expanded) or click directly on your avatar (when sidebar is collapsed). The menu appears as a popup positioned above the user section, remaining visible until you make a selection or click outside the menu area.

Profile menu options

Contact support Opens https://verifywise.ai/contact in a new browser tab, preserving your current session. Use this to submit support requests, report issues, request features, or ask questions about platform functionality. The support team receives context about your account automatically.

Account settings (conditional availability) Accesses your personal account configuration page where you modify password, email address, notification preferences, display settings, and other user-specific parameters. Changes here affect only your account, not organization-wide settings.

Sign out (conditional availability) Terminates your current session and returns you to the login screen. The platform saves your work automatically, but sign out immediately ends access to all features. Use sign out when leaving a shared workstation or ending your work session.

Understanding page layouts

Feature pages follow a consistent structural pattern, promoting predictability and reducing the learning curve as you navigate between different sections.

Standard page structure

Pages organize content using these elements in a predictable vertical sequence:

1. Breadcrumb navigation bar: Shows hierarchical location with Integrations and Automations buttons on the right

2. Page header section: Displays page title and optional descriptive text explaining the feature's purpose

3. Filter and search controls: Dropdowns, toggles, and search fields for narrowing displayed records

4. Summary cards (feature-dependent): Metric cards showing counts by category, status, or level

5. Tab navigation (feature-dependent): Switches between related views (example: Models/Risks tabs)

6. Primary action button: "Add new [item]" button positioned in the upper right for creating records

7. Main content area: Table displaying records, cards showing projects, or forms for data entry

8. Pagination controls (when applicable): Navigate through multiple pages of results

Visual feedback patterns

Status badge colors The platform applies consistent color coding to status indicators, risk levels, and state badges:

• Green badges: Approved, Completed, Active, Mitigated, Very Low Risk

• Orange badges: Restricted, Requires follow-up, Medium-High Risk

• Yellow badges: Pending, In Progress, Investigating, Medium Risk

• Red badges: Blocked, Critical, High Risk, Catastrophic Severity

• Gray badges: Inactive, Not started, Closed

Hover state interactions Visual changes occur when you hover over interactive elements:

• Table rows display light gray backgrounds indicating clickability

• Icons change from gray to green signaling interactivity

• Buttons show background color intensification

• Truncated text reveals full content in tooltips after brief hover delay

Action column icons Tables display consistent icons in the rightmost Actions column:

• Pencil icon: Opens edit modal or form with current record data

• Trash icon: Triggers deletion confirmation dialog before removing record

• Icons appear only for users with appropriate role permissions (hidden from Viewers)

Getting help and additional resources

When you encounter issues beyond this guide's scope or need feature-specific instructions, use these resources.

Contact support directly Access the VerifyWise support team by clicking your profile menu at the bottom of the sidebar and selecting "Contact support". This opens https://verifywise.ai/contact in a new tab where you submit support requests, report bugs, request features, or ask questions. The support team receives your account context automatically, accelerating response and resolution. Expect responses within one business day for standard inquiries, faster for critical issues affecting production systems.

Consult feature-specific documentation This getting started guide covers navigation and general platform use. Each major feature has dedicated documentation explaining detailed functionality, workflows, field definitions, and troubleshooting. Available feature guides:

• Incident Management: Recording and investigating AI system incidents with harm categorization

• Training Registry: Managing personnel training programs and completion tracking

• Model Inventory: Cataloging AI models with approval workflows and risk tracking

• Vendors: Managing external vendors and associated supply chain risks

Access these guides when you need instructions beyond basic navigation—for example, when creating your first incident report or setting up vendor review workflows.

Verify system availability If the platform behaves unexpectedly across multiple features or pages, contact your organization's VerifyWise administrator to confirm system availability and check for planned maintenance windows. Scheduled maintenance typically occurs during off-peak hours with advance notification, but urgent patches may occur with shorter notice. Administrators receive system status notifications before users.

Request administrator assistance Your organization's VerifyWise administrator provides support for organizational and account issues:

• Permission questions: Understanding your role's capabilities or requesting role changes

• Feature access problems: Investigating why expected features don't appear

• Organization-wide settings: Questions about policies, workflows, or configurations affecting all users

• User account management: Password resets, email changes, account activation, or deactivation

Administrators have elevated access to Settings, user management, and system configuration. They coordinate with VerifyWise support for issues requiring vendor involvement.