The Command Center is the first thing you see when you open Arbyn. It's built to answer one question at a glance: is Arbyn set up, working, and helping? What it shows changes automatically as your store progresses, so you always see the next useful thing rather than a wall of numbers you can't act on yet.
What it does
Your Command Center is one screen with three layouts underneath it: a Day one setup view, a Setup complete view while Arbyn calibrates, and a fully Active live dashboard. You never choose between these. Arbyn looks at your real setup progress, your agent's mode, and whether you've ever had a conversation, and shows you whichever one actually matches where your store is right now.
Where to find it
It's the home screen you land on every time you open Arbyn, at the top of the app.
How it works
The three layouts
Day one. You'll see this until all four setup tasks are complete: connecting your support inbox, setting your guardrails, turning on your chat widget in your theme, and adding your first knowledge document. A Finish setting up card lists all four with a "N of 4 complete" badge, a check mark on anything already done, and a direct action button on anything that isn't (Connect, Configure, Turn on, Upload). It's collapsible if you want to shrink it once you've read it, though it starts open. If Arbyn is still in shadow mode, a hero card above the checklist shows your calibration progress toward auto-send.
Setup complete. Once all four tasks are done, this layout takes over, either because Arbyn is still calibrating in shadow mode, or because your store genuinely hasn't had a conversation yet. A dismissible "Setup complete" card confirms it, and underneath it you already see the Needs your attention card and This month's KPI band, even while they're still reading zero.
Active. This is your live dashboard: what needs you, this month's headline numbers, your agent's status and plan usage side by side, and your knowledge health and latest conversations underneath. You reach this layout once setup is done, Arbyn is out of shadow mode, and you've had at least one real conversation.
One thing stays true no matter which layout you're on: if Arbyn genuinely needs your attention (a billing problem, a paused agent, your chat widget switched off in your theme, or your monthly cap reached), a single banner appears at the very top, above everything else, with one clear button. Arbyn never stacks multiple banners. If more than one thing needs attention, you'll see whichever is most urgent first, and the rest once that's resolved.
What each card tells you
Agent status. Whether Arbyn is in shadow mode, replying automatically, or paused, plus the confidence threshold it uses to decide whether to reply or escalate to you. If Arbyn is paused, this card is where you resume it.
Plan and usage. Your current plan, badged by name, and how many conversations you've used this month against your cap (a full thread counts once, however many messages it takes). If you're on the unlimited plan there's no meter to watch. From here you can upgrade or manage your plan in Shopify.
Needs your attention. Up to three rows: open escalations, approvals waiting on you, and knowledge gaps where Arbyn couldn't confidently answer. Each row shows how long the oldest item has waited and a one-line preview, with a button straight to it. When there's genuinely nothing waiting, it says so plainly instead of showing an empty list.
This month. Six headline numbers, month to date, each with an up or down indicator against last month: total conversations, how many Arbyn resolved with no human touch, how many were escalated to your team, revenue it helped bring in, customer satisfaction, and how quickly the first reply went out. Every number that hasn't happened yet shows a plain explanation of what will fill it in, rather than a bare zero.
Knowledge health. A single score out of 100 for how well Arbyn knows your store, alongside the specific areas that would help most if you filled them in (your uploaded documents, Shopify policies, catalog coverage, facts Arbyn has learned, and more). A direct link opens your full Knowledge Center.
Latest conversations. Your five most recent threads, each showing who it was, what it was about, how it turned out (resolved, awaiting your approval, escalated, or still in progress), and a direct link into the full conversation.
Setup checklist, in detail
The four setup tasks are real, verified state, not a self-reported checkbox:
Connect your support inbox only marks itself done once forwarding is actually verified, not merely saved. A saved-but-unverified address gets a Verify forwarding button right on the card.
Set your guardrails is done the moment you've visited your guardrails settings, whether you turn any autonomous actions on or leave everything on manual approval, and its badge shows exactly how many of your five order actions (refunds, cancellations, address changes, returns, and subscription changes) are active rather than a blanket "done."
Turn on your chat widget only marks itself done when the widget is genuinely live in your theme, checked directly, not just "seen" once in the past.
Add your first document only counts something you uploaded yourself (a policy, FAQ, or guide), not pages Arbyn automatically pulled in from your storefront.
The header actions
At the top of the page you'll find three actions. The globe icon switches the language of your Arbyn dashboard itself (it has no effect on what language Arbyn uses when replying to your customers, that happens automatically per conversation). The bell icon opens a notifications panel; it's a placeholder today with nothing in it yet, Arbyn doesn't send anything there currently, so don't rely on it for alerts. Analytics opens a separate page that's still being built out; your real, live numbers today are the ones already on this Command Center and in your full Reports.
Good to know
A conversation is a whole thread, not a message. One email chain going back and forth five times, or one chat session, counts once, however long it runs.
Everything on this page is your real data. The numbers come from your actual conversations, orders, and ratings, never estimates or samples.
Dollar amounts follow your store's own currency.
A paused agent always shows its warning, on any layout. If billing lapses or Arbyn is otherwise paused, that banner takes priority over whatever setup stage you're in.
FAQ
What are the grey placeholder blocks I see for a moment when I open a page? That is Arbyn telling you the page is on its way. The pages that pull the most data show the shape of what is coming instead of a blank screen: this home page, Reports, Revenue attribution, the product catalog audit, Documents, Knowledge analytics, Knowledge gaps, and Policies. Opening a conversation does the same thing for the message thread and the customer panel, while the list on the left stays usable. The blocks fill in with your real content as soon as it arrives. You will notice it most on a slow connection, which is exactly when it helps. Other pages load fast enough that they go straight to the real thing.
Why don't I see the setup checklist anymore? It only appears until all four tasks are genuinely complete. Once they are, you'll see the "Setup complete" card once (dismissible) instead.
Why is my knowledge health score lower than I expected? The score reflects several real inputs (your uploaded documents, your Shopify policies, catalog coverage, and more), not just one of them. The card shows exactly which areas are pulling it down.
Can I get back a banner I dismissed? Only "Auto-send unlocked" can be dismissed, and it's a one-time milestone notice. Anything that still needs action (billing, cap reached, forwarding, your chat widget being off) reappears every time it's still true.
Does upgrading my plan change any of these cards? No. Every card and every feature works the same on all three plans. Upgrading only raises or removes your monthly conversation cap.