Pathfinder learning path
Use this Start Here path to understand your control, protect private records, find the right guide for your current Pathfinder step, and return to your saved work.
Overview
This is the Start Here guide for Pathfinder. It organizes the maintained Help Center articles around the work you may encounter in Pathfinder. It does not replace your saved step, decide what you should claim, or choose evidence, a form, a filing route, or a review option for you. Your saved Pathfinder step remains the guide Read only what is useful for the step in front of you, then return to Pathfinder. The public Return to Pathfinder link resumes your saved work; it does not jump to or mark a specific step complete.
Start with these four habits
Keep the decisions yours Use Pathfinder to organize and review information, while keeping every fact, record, signature, submission, and consequential choice under your control. You can tell the difference between educational software output and your own decision. Protect the source records Keep originals unchanged, use working copies when needed, and avoid putting account secrets or unnecessary personal details into support messages. Your private archive stays separate from support-safe examples and working files. Review generated work Compare summaries, possible observations, tasks, and drafts with the source material. Correct unsupported wording and keep uncertainty visible. The saved work reflects what you can support rather than what software inferred. Use current instructions When a notice, form, deadline, evidence route, or review lane matters, use the current notice and official instructions that apply to your situation. A Help Center explanation never replaces the controlling notice or official filing instructions.
Read before you begin
Read before you begin How Pathfinder works and what you control /help-center/getting-started/faq-what-is-claim-raven Keep personal records and support requests safe /help-center/privacy-and-security/feature-data-protection
Conversation and evidence guides
Conversation and evidence guides Tell your story in plain language /help-center/statements-and-scribe/static-tell-your-story-in-plain-language Frequency, duration, severity, and functional impact /help-center/statements-and-scribe/static-frequency-duration-severity-functional-impact Direct, secondary, and not sure yet relationships /help-center/claims-and-appeals/static-relationship-basics Turn an evidence gap into a small task /help-center/claims-and-appeals/static-evidence-gap-task Personal statements and lay or buddy statements /help-center/claims-and-appeals/static-lay-witness-statements Organize evidence without renaming everything /help-center/claims-and-appeals/static-evidence-organization
C&P exam and package-review guides
C&P exam and package-review guides C&P exam basics /help-center/claims-and-appeals/static-cp-exam-basics Prepare for a C&P exam without memorizing a script /help-center/claims-and-appeals/static-cp-exam-prepare-no-script Flare-ups, bad days, and variability /help-center/claims-and-appeals/static-flare-ups-variability Final claim package review /help-center/claims-and-appeals/static-final-package-review
After filing
The notice in front of you controls the task, date, and response route. These guides help you read and organize the next step without calculating a new deadline or choosing a review option for you.
Post-filing guides
Post-filing guides What happens after you file /help-center/claims-and-appeals/static-after-filing Respond to VA requests without losing the deadline /help-center/claims-and-appeals/static-va-request-response Decision letter basics /help-center/claims-and-appeals/static-decision-letter-basics Supplemental Claim, Higher-Level Review, and Board Appeal /help-center/claims-and-appeals/static-decision-review-orientation
More information
Contextual guides are also in Pathfinder Help Open Need help in Pathfinder to see up to three articles mapped to the current saved screen. A contextual link opens the public Help Center article and does not change, complete, or submit anything in Pathfinder. Continue from your saved step Return to Pathfinder when you are ready. Wait for the Progress saved confirmation after making changes before leaving the portal. Return to Pathfinder /guided-program