Layer5 Cloud Documentation: Comprehensive Information Architecture

Framework & Principles

Documentation Framework: Diátaxis (Tutorials, How-To Guides, Explanations, Reference)

Status Indicators:

• 🆕 [NEW] - Page needs to be created
• ✏️ [REVISION] - Existing page needs significant improvement
• ✅ [EXISTING] - Page exists and is adequate
• 🔗 [EXTERNAL] - Links to external resource

1. Getting Started (Tutorials)

Purpose: Linear, hands-on lessons that guarantee success for newcomers

1.1 Introduction

• What is Layer5 Cloud? ✅
  • Platform overview and value proposition
  • Cloud vs. Self-Hosted Meshery comparison
  • Architecture overview (Cloud, Server, Adapters, UI)
• Core Concepts at a Glance 🆕
  • Organizations, Teams, and Workspaces
  • Designs, Patterns, and the Catalog
  • Environments and Connections

1.2 Quick Start Tutorials

Tutorial 1: Your First Design

• Prerequisites 🆕
• Step 1: Create Your Account ✏️
• Step 2: Connect Your First Cluster ✏️
• Step 3: Import a Sample Design 🆕
• Step 4: Deploy to Your Cluster 🆕
• What You've Learned 🆕

Tutorial 2: Team Collaboration Basics

• Step 1: Create an Organization ✏️
• Step 2: Set Up Your First Team ✏️
• Step 3: Invite a Team Member ✏️
• Step 4: Share and Collaborate on a Design 🆕
• Step 5: Review Changes with Comments 🆕

Tutorial 3: From Design to Production

• Step 1: Create a Multi-Environment Workspace 🆕
• Step 2: Set Up Development Environment 🆕
• Step 3: Validate Your Design 🆕
• Step 4: Promote to Staging 🆕
• Step 5: Deploy to Production 🆕

1.3 Next Steps

• Explore the Academy 🔗
  • Link to Learning Paths
  • Link to Challenges
  • Link to Certifications
• Join the Community ✅

2. How-To Guides (Task-Oriented)

Purpose: Step-by-step instructions to accomplish specific tasks

2.1 Account & Profile Management

Your Profile

• View and Edit Your Profile ✏️
• Update Your Notification Preferences ✅
• Connect Social Accounts (GitHub, Google) ✅
• Manage Your Sessions ✅
• Reset Your Password ✅
• Delete Your Account ✅

Billing & Subscriptions

• View Your Subscription Plan ✅
• Upgrade or Downgrade Your Plan ✅
• Compare Plan Features ✅
• View and Download Invoices 🆕
• Update Payment Methods 🆕
• Set Up Invoice Billing (Enterprise) 🆕

2.2 Organizations & Teams

Organization Management

• Create an Organization ✅
• Edit Organization Settings ✏️
  • Organization name and description
  • Custom domain configuration
  • White labeling (Enterprise)
• Manage Organization Members 🆕
  • View all members
  • Assign organization-level roles
  • Remove members
• Configure Organization-Wide Settings 🆕
  • Default permissions
  • Security policies
  • Integration settings
• Transfer Organization Ownership 🆕
• Delete an Organization ✅
• Leave an Organization ✏️

Team Management

• Create a Team ✅
• Edit Team Details ✏️
• Invite Users to a Team ✅
  • Email invitations
  • Open invite links
• Add Existing Users to a Team ✅
• Remove Users from a Team ✅
• Assign Team Roles 🆕
• Delete a Team ✏️
• Leave a Team 🆕

User Management

• View All Users in Your Organization 🆕
• Create User Accounts Directly 🆕
• Edit User Profiles and Roles 🆕
• Deactivate or Delete User Accounts 🆕
• View User Activity and Audit Logs 🆕

2.3 Workspace & Environment Management

Workspaces

• Create a Workspace ✅
• Configure Workspace Settings 🆕
• Assign Teams to Workspaces ✅
• Assign Environments to Workspaces ✅
• Assign Designs to Workspaces ✅
• Remove Resources from Workspaces ✅
• Delete a Workspace ✅

Environments

• Create an Environment ✏️
• Assign Connections to an Environment 🆕
• Remove Connections from an Environment 🆕
• Edit Environment Details 🆕
• Delete an Environment ✅

Connections

• Connect a Kubernetes Cluster 🆕
• View All Connections 🆕
• Change Connection State 🆕
• Register Discovered Resources 🆕
• Flush MeshSync Data 🆕
• Delete a Connection 🆕
• Manage Multiple Clusters 🆕

2.4 Designing with Kanvas

Creating and Managing Designs

• Create a New Design ✅
• Import a Design ✅
  • From Kubernetes Manifest
  • From Helm Chart
  • From Docker Compose
  • From Design (YAML)
  • From Design (OCI Image)
  • From GitHub Repository (Enterprise)
  • From Local Filesystem
• Save Your Design 🆕
• Edit Design Details ✅
• Delete a Design 🆕
• Clone a Design from the Catalog ✅

Visual Design Tools

• Using the Drag-and-Drop Designer ✅
• Working with Components ✅
  • Add components from the catalog
  • Configure component properties
  • Style components (colors, icons, sizes)
  • Lock/unlock components
  • Clone and copy components
  • Delete components
• Creating Relationships 🆕
  • Hierarchical relationships
  • Edge-based relationships
  • Configure edge handles
• Whiteboarding Features ✅
  • Drawing freeform shapes (Pencil mode)
  • Creating connections (Pen mode)
  • Adding text and annotations
  • Using layers to organize elements
• Layout and Organization 🆕
  • Auto-arrange components
  • Manual positioning
  • Grouping and ungrouping
  • Configure visible layers
• Design Actions 🆕
  • Undo and Redo
  • Screenshot canvas
  • View help center

Design Collaboration

• Collaborate in Real-Time 🆕
• Add and Manage Comments ✅
  • Add inline comments
  • Reply to comment threads
  • Resolve and reopen comments
  • Delete comments
  • Configure comment styles
• Share a Design ✅
  • Share within organization
  • Share with specific users
  • Generate public share links
• Manage Design Collaborators 🆕
  • Invite collaborators to public designs
  • Invite collaborators to private designs (Enterprise)
  • Set collaborator permissions

Exporting and Publishing

• Export a Design ✅
  • As Design (YAML)
  • As Design (OCI Image)
  • As source format (K8s, Helm, Docker Compose)
  • As PNG snapshot (Enterprise)
  • Embed in webpage
• Publish a Design to the Catalog ✅
• Unpublish a Design ✅
• Download a Design 🆕

2.5 Catalog Management

Browsing the Catalog

• Explore the Catalog ✅
• View Public Designs ✅
• View Published Designs ✅
• View Private Designs ✅
• Filter and Search Catalog Content 🆕

Catalog Operations

• Clone a Design from the Catalog ✅
• Open a Design in Playground ✅
• Share a Catalog Design ✅
• Deploy a Catalog Design ✅

Catalog Administration (Enterprise)

• View Catalog Publication Requests ✅
• Approve Catalog Requests ✅
• Deny Catalog Requests ✅
• Manage Catalog Content 🆕
  • Edit catalog item details
  • Unpublish catalog items
  • Delete catalog items

2.6 Operations & Lifecycle Management

Deployment Operations

• Validate a Design ✅
• Run a Dry-Run Deployment 🆕
• Deploy a Design to Kubernetes ✅
• Undeploy a Design ✅
• Monitor Deployment Status 🆕

Viewing and Managing Infrastructure

• View Cluster Resources in Operator ✅
• Create and Manage Views ✅
  • Create a new view
  • Open an existing view
  • Save view changes
  • Share views
  • Clone views
  • Export views
  • Delete views
• Assign Views to Workspaces ✅
• View Component Details 🆕
• View Observability Metrics 🆕
• Access Interactive Terminal 🆕
• Stream Container Logs 🆕

2.7 Performance & Testing

Performance Testing

• Create a Performance Profile 🆕
• Run a Performance Test 🆕
• View Test Results 🆕
• Edit Performance Tests 🆕
• Delete Performance Tests 🆕
• Select Performance Profiles in Visualizer 🆕
• Schedule Recurring Tests 🆕
• Compare Test Results Over Time 🆕

Conformance Testing

• Run Service Mesh Conformance Tests 🆕
• View Conformance Results 🆕

2.8 Security & Access Control

Security Overview

• View Security Dashboard ✅

Sessions & Authentication

• View Active Sessions ✅
• Logout from a Session ✅
• Configure OAuth Authentication ✅
• Set Up SSO (Enterprise) 🆕
  • SAML configuration
  • LDAP integration
  • Azure AD integration

Tokens & API Keys

• Create API Tokens ✅
• View and Manage Tokens ✅
• Download Tokens ✅
• Revoke Tokens ✅
• Manage API Keys 🆕

Credentials Management

• View Stored Credentials 🆕
• Add New Credentials 🆕
• Edit Credentials 🆕
• Delete Credentials 🆕

Keychains & Permissions

• Understanding Default Keychains ✅
  • User View
  • User Management
  • Team View
  • Team Management
  • Organization Management
  • Event Management
  • Security Management
• Create Custom Keychains (Enterprise) 🆕
• Assign Keychains to Roles ✅
• Edit Keychain Permissions 🆕
• Delete Custom Keychains 🆕

Roles & Access Requests

• View and Assign Built-in Roles ✅
• Create Custom Roles (Enterprise) 🆕
• Update Custom Roles (Enterprise) 🆕
• Delete Custom Roles (Enterprise) 🆕
• Export Custom Roles (Enterprise) 🆕
• Manage Access Requests (Enterprise) 🆕
  • View pending requests
  • Approve access requests
  • Deny access requests

2.9 GitOps & CI/CD Integration

GitHub Integration

• Install the Layer5 GitHub App 🆕
• Configure Snapshot Generation ✅
• View Snapshots in Pull Requests ✅
• Trigger GitHub Actions 🆕

Other Git Providers

• Set Up GitLab Integration 🆕
• Set Up Bitbucket Integration 🆕

Continuous Delivery

• Integrate with Argo CD 🆕
• Integrate with Flux 🆕

2.10 Observability & Monitoring

Metrics & Dashboards

• Connect Prometheus 🆕
• Connect Grafana 🆕
• View Service Metrics 🆕
• Create Custom Dashboards 🆕

Events & Notifications

• View the Notification Center ✅
• Configure Notification Preferences ✅
• Set Up Event Webhooks 🆕
• Configure Slack Notifications 🆕
• Configure Email Alerts 🆕

Incident Management

• View Event Statistics 🆕
• View Event Summary 🆕
• Access Audit Logs (Enterprise) 🆕
• Configure Alert Suppression 🆕
• Set Up Alert Correlation 🆕

2.11 Academy (Enterprise)

For Learners

• Browse Learning Paths 🆕
• Take Challenges 🆕
• Earn Certifications 🆕
• Track Your Progress 🆕

For Instructors & Content Creators

• Access the Instructor Console 🆕
• Create a Learning Path 🆕
• Create a Challenge 🆕
• Create a Certification 🆕
• Create Assessments and Quizzes 🆕
• Monitor Learner Progress 🆕
• Analyze Test Performance 🆕
• Manage Academy Content 🆕

2.12 Self-Hosted & Enterprise Deployment

Installation & Setup

• Deploy Layer5 Cloud with Helm ✅
• Configure PostgreSQL ✅
• Configure Hydra ✅
• Set Up Custom Domain ✅

White Labeling

• Customize Branding ✅
• Configure Custom Logos 🆕
• Set Custom Colors and Themes 🆕
• Manage Organization Recognition Badges 🆕

Administration

• Manage Self-Hosted Invitations 🆕
• Configure Webhooks 🆕
• Reset the Database 🆕
• View System Settings 🆕

3. Explanations (Concept-Oriented)

Purpose: Deepen understanding of the "why" and "what"

3.1 Platform Architecture

• Layer5 Cloud Architecture Overview 🆕
  • Cloud services
  • Meshery Server
  • Adapters
  • UI/UX Layer
  • Data flow and communication
• MeshSync: Discovery and Synchronization 🆕
  • How MeshSync works
  • Configurable discovery
  • Tiered discovery approach
  • Model registration
• The Extensibility Model 🆕
  • WASM plugins
  • Custom integrations
  • Extension points

3.2 Identity & Access Management Concepts

• Organizations, Teams, and Workspaces Explained 🆕
  • Hierarchy and relationships
  • Use cases for each level
  • Multi-tenancy model
• Environments: Organizing Your Infrastructure 🆕
  • Development, staging, production
  • Connection management
  • Environment isolation
• Understanding RBAC in Layer5 Cloud 🆕
  • Role-based access control principles
  • Built-in roles vs. custom roles
  • Permission inheritance
• The Entitlements System 🆕
  • Keychains and keys
  • Fine-grained permissions
  • Subscription tier differences
• Authentication Methods 🆕
  • OAuth (GitHub, Google)
  • SSO (SAML, LDAP, Azure AD)
  • API tokens and keys

3.3 Design & Configuration Management

• What is a Design? 🆕
  • Design file structure
  • YAML schema
  • OCI image format
• Patterns vs. Designs 🆕
  • Reusable patterns
  • Design templates
  • Pattern composition
• Understanding Models and Components 🆕
  • Meshery Models
  • Component definitions
  • Component properties
• Relationships in Kanvas 🆕
  • Hierarchical relationships
  • Edge-based relationships
  • Semantic relationships
• Design Validation 🆕
  • Validation rules
  • Policy enforcement
  • Best practices
• Versioning and Change Management 🆕
  • Design versions
  • Change tracking
  • Rollback capabilities

3.4 Catalog & Content Management

• The Catalog: Shared Knowledge 🆕
  • Public vs. private designs
  • Published vs. unpublished content
  • Catalog organization
• Publication Workflows 🆕
  • Request-approval process (Enterprise)
  • Content moderation
  • Quality standards

3.5 Performance & Reliability

• Service Mesh Performance (SMP) Specification 🆕
  • What SMP measures
  • Standard metrics
  • Comparison methodology
• MeshMark: Performance Scoring 🆕
  • How MeshMark is calculated
  • Interpreting scores
  • Benchmarking best practices
• Load Generation with Nighthawk 🆕
  • Nighthawk architecture
  • Test configuration
  • Result interpretation
• Chaos Engineering Concepts 🆕
  • Principles of chaos engineering
  • Fault injection strategies
  • Resilience testing

3.6 GitOps & Automation

• GitOps with Layer5 Cloud 🆕
  • GitOps principles
  • Infrastructure as Code
  • Declarative deployments
• Visual Snapshots in Code Review 🆕
  • How snapshots work
  • Integration with GitHub/GitLab/Bitbucket
  • Visual diff benefits

3.7 Financial Management (Enterprise)

• Cost Visibility and FinOps 🆕
  • Understanding showback
  • Understanding chargeback
  • Cost allocation models
  • Resource tagging strategies

3.8 Learning & Certification (Academy)

• The Layer5 Academy Platform 🆕
  • Learning management system
  • Content structure (paths, challenges, certifications)
  • Assessment framework
• Extending the Academy (Enterprise) ✅
  • Custom content creation
  • Curriculum design
  • Integration with LMS systems

4. Reference (Information-Oriented)

Purpose: Dry, factual information for lookup

4.1 Feature Availability

• Feature Comparison Matrix 🆕
  • Free vs. Team vs. TeamDesigner vs. TeamOperator vs. Enterprise
  • All features from the CSV mapped to tiers
  • Clear visual table format

4.2 Permissions & Roles

• Default Roles 🆕
  • User
  • Operator
  • Designer
  • Platform Engineer
  • Billing
  • Org Admin
  • Instructor
  • Learner
• Built-in Keychains ✅
  • User View
  • User Management
  • Team View
  • Team Management
  • Organization Management
  • Event Management
  • Security Management
• Permission Matrix by Feature 🆕
  • Comprehensive table of what each role can do
  • Organized by feature category

4.3 Integrations

• Supported Integrations 🆕
  • Source Control: GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket
  • CI/CD: GitHub Actions, Argo CD, Flux
  • Monitoring: Prometheus, Grafana, Datadog
  • Notifications: Slack, Email, PagerDuty, Microsoft Teams
  • Authentication: OAuth, SAML, LDAP, Azure AD
  • Service Meshes: Istio, Linkerd, Consul, Kuma, Open Service Mesh
  • Container Platforms: Kubernetes, Docker, Helm
  • Cloud Providers: AWS (via K8s CRDs), GCP (via K8s CRDs), Azure (via K8s CRDs)

4.4 API Reference

• REST API Documentation 🆕
  • Authentication
  • Endpoints
  • Request/response formats
  • Error codes
  • Rate limits
• Webhooks Reference 🆕
  • Webhook events
  • Payload schemas
  • Security and verification
  • Example implementations

4.5 Meshery Models & Components

• Models Registry 🆕
  • Alphabetical list of all models
  • Model metadata
  • Component count
• Component Catalog 🆕
  • Searchable component reference
  • Component schemas
  • Configuration options

4.6 CLI Reference

• Meshery CLI Commands 🔗
  • Link to Meshery docs
  • Cloud-specific commands

4.7 Configuration Files

• Design File Schema 🆕
  • YAML structure
  • Field definitions
  • Example designs
• Performance Profile Schema 🆕
  • Test configuration format
  • Example profiles

4.8 Glossary

• Terms and Definitions 🆕
  • Adapter
  • Component
  • Connection
  • Credential
  • Design
  • Environment
  • Filter
  • Keychain
  • MeshMark
  • MeshSync
  • Model
  • Organization
  • Pattern
  • Relationship
  • Service Mesh Performance (SMP)
  • Team
  • Token
  • View
  • Workspace
  • WASM

5. Troubleshooting & Support

5.1 Common Issues

• Connection & Authentication Problems 🆕
  • Unable to log in
  • SSO not working
  • GitHub/Google authentication issues
  • Token/API key errors
• Cluster Connection Issues 🆕
  • Cluster not connecting
  • MeshSync not discovering resources
  • Permission errors
• Design & Deployment Issues 🆕
  • Design validation failures
  • Deployment errors
  • Component configuration problems
• Performance & Resource Issues 🆕
  • Slow performance
  • High resource usage
  • Test failures
• GitOps Integration Issues 🆕
  • Snapshots not generating
  • GitHub App not working
  • Webhook failures

5.2 Error Messages

• Error Code Reference 🆕
  • Common error codes and their meanings
  • Recommended solutions

5.3 Diagnostics

• Collecting Diagnostic Information 🆕
  • How to generate logs
  • What information to include in support requests
• Component Logging 🆕
  • Accessing Meshery component logs
  • Log levels and verbosity

5.4 Getting Help

• Contact Support ✅
  • Community Forum (Free)
  • Standard Support (Team)
  • Premium Support (Enterprise)
  • Premium Plus Support (Enterprise)
• Support Levels and SLAs 🆕
  • Response times by tier
  • Support channels by tier
• Layer5 Status Page 🔗
  • Link to status.layer5.io

6. What's New

• Release Notes 🆕
  • Version-by-version changelog
  • Feature announcements
  • Deprecation notices
• Roadmap 🔗
  • Link to public roadmap

Organization Notes

Cross-Cutting Concerns

Each major section should include relevant information about:

• Plan Availability: Clearly indicate which features require Team, TeamDesigner, TeamOperator, or Enterprise
• Permissions: Note required roles/permissions where applicable
• Related Topics: Link to concept explanations from how-tos and vice versa

Navigation Structure

Primary Navigation:

1. Getting Started
2. How-To Guides (with collapsible subsections)
3. Explanations
4. Reference
5. Troubleshooting & Support
6. What's New

Secondary Navigation:

• Search (prominent)
• Plan Comparison (quick link)
• API Docs (quick link)
• Community (quick link)

Content Maintenance

• All [NEW] pages should be prioritized based on:
  1. Feature availability in product
  2. User demand/support tickets
  3. Tier (Enterprise features can be lower priority if user base is smaller)
• All [REVISION] pages need audit for:
  • Accuracy
  • Completeness
  • Clarity
  • Screenshots/diagrams
  • Broken links

This information architecture provides comprehensive coverage of all features in your CSV while following Diátaxis principles for optimal documentation usability.