Cisco APIC Getting Started Guide, Release 6.2(x)

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Navigation pane

Updated: January 12, 2026

Overview

This topic explains how to use the Navigation pane in the APIC GUI to manage hierarchical objects, access context menus for object actions, and navigate submenu categories efficiently.

The Navigation pane in the APIC GUI enables you to access and manage hierarchical objects associated with submenu categories. It appears as a pane on the left side of the APIC GUI below the submenu bar and organizes both logical and physical objects relevant to each category.

Key attributes and functions

  • The Navigation pane displays submenu categories as hierarchical trees of related objects.

  • Objects may represent ports, policies, or groupings.

  • Selecting an object in the Navigation pane displays its details in the Work pane.

  • Right-clicking an object in the Navigation pane provides access to a context menu with the following actions:

    • Delete: Deletes the object.

    • Create <type of object>: Creates a new object.

    • Save as...: Downloads the object and its properties in JSON or XML format to a local file.

    • Post...: Exports the object and its properties to an existing local file.

    • Share: Displays the URL of the object. You can copy the URL and send it to others.

    • Open In Object Store Browser: Opens the object in Visore, a built-in utility that displays an object and its properties. This information may be useful in troubleshooting or for developing API tools.

    • Clone: Creates a copy of the object. This action is useful for deriving a new contract or policy based on an existing contract or policy.

Note
When a container in the Navigation pane (such as Application Profiles under a Tenant) contains more than 40 profiles, direct expansion of profiles in the Navigation pane becomes unavailable. To expand a profile in this context, select the desired profile within the Work pane.