Understanding the Flow Navigator - Understanding the Flow Navigator - 2026.1 English - UG892

Vivado Design Suite User Guide: Design Flows Overview (UG892)

Document ID
UG892
Release Date
2026-06-23
Version
2026.1 English

The Flow Navigator lets you control major design process tasks, including project configuration, synthesis, implementation, and bitstream generation. Available commands depend on the current design status. Steps that cannot run yet appear grayed out until required design tasks complete.

Figure 1. Flow Navigator

The Flow Navigator changes when you work with projects created using third-party netlists. For example, system-level design entry, IP, and synthesis options are unavailable.

Figure 2. Flow Navigator for Third-Party Netlist Project

As the design tasks complete, you can analyze the RTL by performing linting on it and specifying the waive-specific violations in the current design. After cleaning up the design, you can open the resulting designs to analyze results and apply constraints. In the Flow Navigator, click Open Elaborated Design, Open Synthesized Design, or Open Implemented Design. Refer to Opening Designs to Perform Design Analysis and Constraints Definition for more information.

When you open a design, the Flow Navigator shows commonly used commands for that phase of the flow. Selecting a command opens the design, if it is not already open, and performs the operation. For example, during synthesis, the Flow Navigator displays commands related to synthesis.

Figure 3. Synthesis Section in the Flow Navigator