> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://help.bioinsight.illumina.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://help.bioinsight.illumina.com/connected-analytics/readme/gs-abouttheplatform.md).

# About Platform Core

## What is Platform Core?

**Illumina® BioInsight Platform Core** (former Illumina Connected Analytics) is a cloud-based software platform to manage, analyze, and interpret large volumes of multi-omics data in a secure, scalable, and flexible environment. The versatility of the system makes the platform suited for a broad range of applications.

Platform Core is hosted in multiple cloud regions so you can keep data and compute where your subscription and compliance needs require. Operations are available through a web application and a suite of RESTful APIs; storage and compute usage are tracked through your account.

{% hint style="warning" %}
When applications on the platform are used for diagnostic purposes, it is the user’s responsibility to determine applicable regulatory requirements and validate the system for the intended use.
{% endhint %}

***

## How does Platform Core work?

Think of Platform Core as a layered workspace. Understanding these layers is the conceptual model for everything else in the documentation.

<table><thead><tr><th width="130.111083984375">Layer</th><th>How it fits into the platform</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Tenant and access</td><td>Your organization is a tenant. Users belong to the tenant (and optionally to workgroups). Subscriptions and entitlements determine which modules and resources you can use. Billing is measured in BioInsight Credits (BIC).</td></tr><tr><td>Region</td><td>Each project lives in a cloud region. Data, compute, and linked assets stay within that regional boundary. Bundles and projects must be in the same region to be linked.</td></tr><tr><td>Project</td><td><p>A project is the binder for your work: data, samples, pipelines, analyses, and team access. Projects are the main access-controlled boundary for organizing and sharing resources. Within a project you can:</p><ul><li>Upload or sync data (Illumina-managed storage or your own cloud storage)</li><li>Group related files into samples</li><li>Control who can do what through team roles (Project, Flow, Base, Bench) plus upload/download rights</li></ul></td></tr><tr><td>Assets</td><td>Assets are the building blocks of work—files, samples, tools, pipelines, tables, metadata, and more. You can create them in a project, link them from other projects (when sharing is allowed), or bring them in by linking a bundle.</td></tr><tr><td>Bundles</td><td>A bundle is a curated package of assets such as Illumina-provided pipelines, tools, sample data, and templates. Link a bundle to a project to make those assets available there. Entitled bundles are packages shared with your tenant by Illumina or other providers.</td></tr></tbody></table>

***

## Ways to access Platform Core

You can work with the same projects and resources through three interfaces:

{% tabs %}
{% tab title="Web application" icon="globe-pointer" %}
The primary interactive experience for creating projects, managing data and teams, configuring pipelines, launching analyses, and using Base, Bench, and Cohorts. Sign in through your tenant domain (https\://\<domain\_name>.login.illumina.com) and open Platform Core from the Illumina BioInsight Platform product launcher.

See [Web UI Access](/connected-analytics/web-ui-access/platform-core-home.md) to learn more about interacting with the Platform Core web app.
{% endtab %}

{% tab title="Command-line interface" icon="terminal" %}
A developer-oriented client for authentication, data transfer, resource management, and launching analyses—useful for automation and bulk operations. See the Command-Line Interface section for install, auth, and command reference.
{% endtab %}

{% tab title="REST API" icon="rectangle-api" %}
HTTP APIs for programmatic access to data and analysis resources. Calls are authorized with a JSON Web Token (JWT), typically obtained using an API key. The API reference documents schemas and operations; the same APIs underlie the UI and CLI.
{% endtab %}
{% endtabs %}

Object IDs identify resources in the API and CLI even if display names change. Tenant administrators manage users and workgroups through Illumina account management before those users can work in Platform Core.

***

## Platform capabilities

Platform Core brings storage, secondary analysis, interactive compute, and tertiary exploration under one project model.

#### Data management

Organize files and folders in project storage; optionally connect your own AWS S3 bucket for two-way sync. Use samples to group related inputs and outputs. Apply metadata models, tags, and activity history for traceability. Control whether project data can be linked, copied, or moved to other projects in the tenant.

#### Pipelines and secondary analysis (Flow)

Build or import pipelines in Nextflow or CWL. Tools run as containerized applications (Docker images from the platform repository or external registries). Launch analyses, monitor lifecycle and logs, and collect outputs in project data. Illumina pipelines (including DRAGEN-based workflows) are commonly delivered through entitled bundles. Sequencer cloud analysis auto-launch can start analyses when runs complete.

#### Interactive analysis (Bench)

Start workspaces for notebooks, custom scripts, and exploratory work against project data. Stop workspaces when idle to control compute cost. Advanced options include clusters and custom Bench images, depending on entitlements.

#### Aggregation and knowledge mining (Base)

Enable Base on a project to build relational tables from pipeline outputs and other datasets, run and save queries, schedule work, and share controlled views of aggregated data.

#### Cohort and population analysis (Cohorts)

Select subjects and samples using phenotypic and molecular criteria, run cohort analyses and comparisons, use public reference datasets where available, and surface harmonized cohort data for further work in Base and Bench.

#### Collaboration and distribution

Share projects via team membership and workgroups. Package pipelines, tools, and data into bundles; version and share bundles across tenants when released. Externally managed projects (for example, from BaseSpace Sequence Hub) keep another Illumina application as the source of truth for its own data while still allowing Platform Core workflows where supported.

#### Security, regions, and operations

Role-based access at the project and module level, audit/event logging, regional data residency options, and encryption in transit and at rest. Network prerequisites and compliance details are covered in Network Settings and Security and Compliance.

Availability of modules and resource sizes depends on your subscription and entitlements.

***

## Platform Core in the BioInsight ecosystem

Platform Core is one product in the Illumina BioInsight Platform (formerly Connected Software)—Illumina’s unified cloud software suite. You access BioInsight products from a shared account and subscription model, then open the applications your tenant is entitled to use.

In the end-to-end genomics journey, Platform Core sits primarily in analysis and data management: secure storage, pipeline development and execution, interactive exploration, and tertiary cohort work on large multi-omics datasets. Adjacent products cover other stages of the same journey:

| Stage                                                | Examples in the BioInsight portfolio                                       |
| ---------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Lab and run setup                                    | Lab management and run set-up products, sample sheets, instrument settings |
| Push-button secondary analysis & run-centric storage | BaseSpace Sequence Hub                                                     |
| High-performance secondary pipelines                 | DRAGEN and related analysis applications                                   |
| Flexible multi-omics analysis at scale               | Platform Core                                                              |
| Interpretation and reporting                         | Illumina Connected Insights, Emedgene, and related interpretation products |
| Multiomics                                           | Connected Multiomics and related multiomics products                       |

Platform Core often works with these products rather than instead of them:

* Sequencing runs and auto-launched analyses can land data and results in Platform Core projects (including projects managed by other Illumina apps).
* DRAGEN and other Illumina pipelines are commonly run as Flow pipelines from entitled bundles.
* Results and structured data in Platform Core can feed interpretation, multiomics, or custom downstream applications via export, API, or shared project data—according to your entitlements and data-sharing settings.

From the Platform Core UI, the product launcher (nine-dot menu) lists the BioInsight applications available to you, including regional instances where applicable. Account, domain, workgroup, and billing administration are handled in the shared BioInsight Platform account experience; Platform Core documentation focuses on projects, analysis, and data once you are signed in.

For registration, domain setup, and first login, start with [Get Started](/connected-analytics/readme/gs-getstarted.md) and the Illumina BioInsight Platform registration guidance. For product-level overviews across the suite, see the [Illumina BioInsight Platform](https://help.connected.illumina.com/) help.


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