Grid-ION User Guide

Purpose

Grid Information Orchestration Navigator (Grid-ION) helps users move between business framing, technical dependency analysis, and CIM-oriented data object schema exploration in one session-managed workspace.

This guide reflects the current in-app behavior as of Apr. 22, 2026.

Before You Begin

• Access is controlled through environment-configured credentials.
• The app supports two authentication kinds:
• Standard user
• Admin user
• Both users sign in through the same common login screen.

Required login fields:

• Username
• Password
• Affiliation

The affiliation is stored with session-based outputs such as feedback logs, suggested pain-point logs, and chat/session records when those features are used.

Sign In

1. Open Grid-ION.
2. Enter the required username, password, and affiliation.
3. Select Log In.
4. After successful authentication, Grid-ION opens the persona selection home page.

Notes:

• The DOE/ORNL header remains visible on the sign-in screen.
• The large application title in the header is intentionally hidden on the sign-in screen only.
• If you forget your password, use the contact guidance shown below the login form and in Options -> About.

Home Page

After authentication, the home page presents three persona choices:

• Business User
• Technical User
• Dual User

Each card includes:

• a short role description
• a representative audience list
• a How Grid-ION can help expander

The home page is the top-level workspace selection page. The dedicated Home button appears only after you enter a workspace.

Header And Session Controls

Persistent header behavior:

• Options menu remains available throughout the app
• Logout appears in the top-right after successful sign-in
• The DOE icon is hidden on the sign-in page and shown again from the home page onward

Session navigation behavior:

• Home is shown as a tab-style button only after you enter a workspace
• Selecting Home returns you to the persona selection page
• Selecting Logout clears the authenticated session and returns you to sign-in

If chat history or other session data exists, Grid-ION may ask for confirmation before leaving the current session boundary.

Options Menu

Always available:

• User Guide
• Glossary
• Resources
• About

Visible after a persona session is active:

• Provide Feedback

Visible only to authenticated admin users:

• Review Feedback
• Review Suggested Pain-Point

Business User Workflow

The Business workflow is intended for program framing before detailed technical design.

Typical flow:

1. Choose Business User from the home page.
2. Work through the business-side guided intake and planning flow.
3. Use the resulting Business Spec Dashboard to review outputs.
4. Use Suggest a Pain-Point when needed to log a structured suggestion for admin review.

Business-side outputs focus on:

• scenario framing
• program definitions
• stakeholder and lifecycle context
• supporting references and resources

Technical User Workflow

The Technical workflow is intended for function, dependency, UML, and schema exploration.

Primary technical tabs:

• Technical View
• Semantic Dependency
• Data Object Schema

Technical View

Use this tab to move through the technical selection flow and explore lifecycle- and actor-pair-based technical outputs.

Semantic Dependency

Use this tab to inspect:

• coordination-function context
• information exchanges
• sequence/UML dependencies

Data Object Schema

Use this tab to build a CIM-oriented schema canvas for the selected technical context.

Current behavior:

1. Drag classes from the CIM101 Library into the canvas.
2. Select the active class in the canvas tree view.
3. Review the class description.
4. Use the Attributes section to include or exclude attributes.
5. Use the Relationships section to include or exclude ancestors, descendants, and associated classes.
6. Review the generated schema in the Data Object Schema Preview panel. Use the Preview dropdown to switch between LinkML, XSD, JSON, and TTL + SHACL views. Select Validate, then View Audit to inspect dashboard scores for standards validation, CIM source alignment, and use-case fit. The audit overlay also shows plain-English rationale, evidence, sources, validator versions, standards scope, and artifact fingerprints before using Export. The LinkML view uses a code-editor-style folding gutter for nested blocks.
7. Export the current canvas using: - Export Canvas XML - Export Canvas JSON - Export from the selected schema preview format

Current UI conventions in the active class view:

• Attribute cells include a checkbox for inclusion/exclusion.
• Related class cells include a checkbox for inclusion/exclusion.
• Clicking an attribute or related class cell opens a detail overlay.
• Clicking outside the detail overlay closes it.

Removing classes:

• Use the x button on a class header to remove that class from the canvas and preview.

Dual User Workflow

The Dual workflow is intended for users who want business and technical perspectives in the same signed-in session.

Use Dual when you want to:

• start with business framing
• continue into technical interpretation
• keep both perspectives aligned during one session

Feedback And Suggested Pain-Points

Provide Feedback

After you enter a persona session, Options -> Provide Feedback opens the structured feedback form.

The form captures:

• user identity from the signed-in session
• affiliation from the signed-in session
• survey-style ratings and narrative responses
• automatic submission timestamp

Submissions are saved as repository log files for later admin review.

Suggest a Pain-Point

The Suggest a Pain-Point flow is available from the Business planning experience.

Behavior:

• opens inside the app overlay
• captures a structured suggestion
• saves the suggestion as a repository log
• makes the log available to admin review

Admin Review Functions

Admin users sign in through the same common login page as standard users.

After admin authentication:

• the same three persona choices remain available
• the Options menu additionally exposes:
• Review Feedback
• Review Suggested Pain-Point

Admin review pages allow the admin to:

• inspect submitted logs
• sort/review saved entries
• copy the contents
• permanently delete reviewed log files

Chat And Session Boundaries

Grid-ION includes a session-aware chat shell.

Current boundary behavior:

• confirmation may appear before clearing session state
• busy indicators can appear during cleanup
• logout and persona transitions can trigger session-boundary cleanup

If a feature appears to pause briefly during cleanup, wait for the boundary operation to complete before retrying.

Common Tips

• Use Home to return to persona selection without leaving the authenticated session.
• Use Logout to intentionally end the current authenticated session.
• In the schema canvas, make small inclusion changes first and then review the preview panel.
• If a help page looks stale after an update, refresh the browser so the latest static assets are loaded.

Troubleshooting

I signed in but do not see admin review options

Only admin-authenticated sessions see:

• Review Feedback
• Review Suggested Pain-Point

I do not see Provide Feedback

Provide Feedback appears only after a persona session has been entered.

The Data Object Schema preview does not update

Check that:

• at least one class is on the canvas
• the desired attributes or related classes are selected
• the active class is the one you intend to configure

A session action asks for confirmation

That is expected when Grid-ION is protecting session-boundary state such as chat history or workspace cleanup.