Tours that close the window in their way

When the next step lives behind a window an earlier step opened, the tour asks that window to close, waits, then spotlights.

What it is

A contract between the tour engine and every modal host. If the occlusion probe says the next target exists but is covered, the engine dispatches a clear-overlays event; hosts like the pipeline board, Estimates and Contacts close their own dismissable overlays, the engine waits for the surface to settle and re-resolves — up to two passes before falling back to an explainer card.

Also called: modal aware tour · clear the screen · tour behind a popup

See it
Tours that close the window in their way
Area
Operations
Group
Tour Engine
System
Academy
Solves
2 named problems
01Steps can force or opt out of the behaviour (`clearOverlays: true | false`); the default is automatic — clear only when the probe says covered
02Before probing, a target that is both below the fold and behind a modal is scrolled into view first, so the probe reads the true on-screen state
03While the modal closes, the card shows a branded 'Clearing the way…' note instead of flashing a ring at the old position
A card detail modal open, the 'Clearing the way…' note appearing, the modal closing, then the sidebar Estimates item lighting up. Sample data — no customer information appears here.
How it works
  1. 1Steps can force or opt out of the behaviour (`clearOverlays: true | false`); the default is automatic — clear only when the probe says covered
  2. 2Before probing, a target that is both below the fold and behind a modal is scrolled into view first, so the probe reads the true on-screen state
  3. 3While the modal closes, the card shows a branded 'Clearing the way…' note instead of flashing a ring at the old position
  4. 4Hosts opt in with a one-line hook (useAcademyClearOverlays) and never need to know which step is running
Why we built it

A walkthrough that opens a lead's card in one step and needs the Estimates screen in the next used to draw its highlight behind the card it had just opened — a ring glowing faintly under a dark backdrop, with the builder told to click something they could not reach. Steps now ask the window that is in the way to close the way the app closes it, wait until it has actually gone, and only then highlight. If something still covers the target, the step teaches the same point on a plain card instead of pointing at a covered button.

The problem
  • Multi-screen chapters breaking whenever a previous step left a modal open
  • Rings painted behind dark backdrops
Sound familiar?
What you get
A tour can move from a card modal to a different screen without you closing anything
If no host responds, the step degrades to a readable explainer instead of a dead ring

See it on your own jobs

Twenty minutes, your numbers, no slide deck. We’ll build one of your real buildings in front of you and send you the estimate link at the end — yours to keep either way.

or keep browsing features →