Browsing Resources

The Resource Explorer provides a powerful interface for browsing, searching, and filtering the AWS resources discovered across your connected accounts and regions. Whether you are looking for a specific resource by name, reviewing all resources of a particular type, or investigating resources in a specific region, the Resource Explorer makes it easy to find what you need.

The Resource Table

The main view of the Resource Explorer is a paginated table that lists all discovered resources. Each row represents a single AWS resource and displays key information at a glance:

Column	Description
Name	The resource's friendly name (from the Name tag) or its resource ID if no name tag exists
Type	The AWS resource type (for example, EC2 Instance, S3 Bucket, RDS Database)
Service	The AWS service the resource belongs to (EC2, S3, RDS, Lambda, etc.)
Region	The AWS region where the resource is deployed, or "Global" for account-level resources
Account	The AWS account the resource belongs to (shown in multi-account environments)
Status	The resource's current state where applicable (running, stopped, available, etc.)
Findings	The number of active findings associated with this resource, if any

Click on any row to navigate to the Resource Details page for that resource.

Searching Resources

The search bar at the top of the Resource Explorer allows you to find resources quickly by typing any of the following:

• Resource name -- Search by the friendly name (Name tag value)
• Resource ID -- Search by the AWS resource identifier (instance ID, bucket name, function name, etc.)
• ARN -- Search by the full Amazon Resource Name

The search is performed against all visible fields and returns matching results as you type.

tip

If you know the exact resource ID or ARN, paste it into the search bar for the fastest lookup. The search matches partial strings, so typing just part of a resource ID will still find it.

Filtering Resources

Filters allow you to narrow the resource list to specific subsets. Multiple filters can be combined to create precise views.

Filter by Resource Type

Select one or more resource types to view only those types. This is useful when you want to review all resources of a specific kind:

• View all EC2 instances across your environment
• See every S3 bucket and its configuration
• List all Lambda functions and their runtimes

Filter by Region

Select one or more AWS regions to see only resources deployed in those regions. Global resources (IAM, S3, CloudFront, Route 53) appear regardless of region filter.

Common uses:

• Review resources in your primary production region
• Investigate resources in a region you did not expect to have workloads
• Focus on a specific geographic area for data residency compliance

Filter by Service

Filter by AWS service to view all resource types within a service. For example, selecting "EC2" shows instances, security groups, EBS volumes, elastic IPs, and other EC2-related resources.

Filter by Account

In multi-account environments, filter by AWS account to focus on resources in a specific account. This is equivalent to using the global account selector but can be combined with other filters.

Filter by Findings

Filter to show only resources that have active findings, or filter by finding severity:

• Has findings -- Show only resources with one or more active findings
• Critical findings -- Show only resources with critical-severity findings
• No findings -- Show resources that have passed all checks

info

Combining the "Has findings" filter with a service or resource type filter is an effective way to prioritise remediation. For example, filtering to "RDS databases with critical findings" gives you an immediate list of databases that need attention.

Sorting Resources

The resource table supports sorting by any column. Click a column header to sort ascending, and click again to sort descending. Common sorting strategies:

Sort By	Use Case
Findings (descending)	See the most problematic resources first
Type	Group resources by type for systematic review
Region	Group by geography for regional analysis
Name	Alphabetical browsing
Account	Group by account for account-level review

Pagination

For environments with hundreds or thousands of resources, the Resource Explorer uses pagination to maintain performance. The pagination controls at the bottom of the table allow you to:

• Navigate between pages
• Adjust the number of resources displayed per page
• Jump to a specific page

note

For very large environments, Guardian Pro uses optimised rendering to ensure the Resource Explorer remains responsive regardless of the total resource count.

Resource Counts and Summary

At the top of the Resource Explorer, summary cards display:

• Total resources -- The total number of resources discovered across all accounts and regions
• By service -- A breakdown showing how many resources exist per AWS service
• By region -- A breakdown showing resource distribution across regions
• With findings -- How many resources have active findings

These summary cards provide context before you start browsing and help you understand the overall shape of your infrastructure.

Common Browsing Workflows

Security Review

1. Filter by "Has findings" to see only resources with issues
2. Sort by Findings (descending) to see the most affected resources first
3. Click each resource to review its findings and decide on remediation

Regional Audit

1. Filter by a specific Region to focus on resources in that geography
2. Review the resource types present to confirm they are expected
3. Look for unexpected resources that may indicate shadow IT

Service Inventory

1. Filter by Service (for example, "RDS")
2. Review all instances of that service across all accounts and regions
3. Check configurations for consistency (encryption, backup, multi-AZ)

Account Comparison

1. Filter by Account to view one account at a time
2. Note the resource types and counts
3. Switch to another account and compare
4. Identify inconsistencies in how similar workloads are deployed

Orphan Hunting

1. Filter by resource types known to generate cost when idle (EBS volumes, Elastic IPs, idle load balancers)
2. Review each resource to determine if it is actively in use
3. Cross-reference with the Cost Intelligence module for cost impact

tip

The AI Assistant can help with resource browsing tasks. Try asking "Show me all unencrypted RDS databases" or "How many EC2 instances are running in each region?" The assistant has access to the same resource data as the Resource Explorer.

Exporting Resource Data

Guardian Pro supports exporting your resource inventory for external analysis, reporting, or compliance documentation. Export options include:

• CSV export -- Download the current filtered view as a CSV file for spreadsheet analysis
• JSON export -- Download detailed resource data in JSON format for programmatic use

Exports respect your current filters, so you can export a targeted subset of resources rather than the entire inventory.

Next Steps

• Resource Details -- Click on any resource to see its full configuration, tags, and relationships.
• Infrastructure Diagram -- Visualise the resources you are browsing in a topology diagram.
• Action Centre -- Address findings associated with your resources.
• Architecture Map -- See how resources connect to each other in the topology view.