Deep-Dives
Web components vs React components for product toursCompare web components and React for product tours. Shadow DOM limits, state management gaps, and why framework-specific wins.Apr 8, 2026 · 12 min readDeep-Dives
Animation performance in product tours: requestAnimationFrame vs CSSCompare requestAnimationFrame and CSS animations for product tour tooltips. Learn the two-layer architecture that keeps tours at 60fps without jank.Apr 8, 2026 · 11 min readDeep-Dives
Building ARIA-compliant tooltip components from scratchBuild an accessible React tooltip with role=tooltip, aria-describedby, WCAG 1.4.13 hover persistence, and Escape dismissal. Includes working TypeScript code.Apr 8, 2026 · 12 min readDeep-Dives
How we benchmark React libraries: methodology and toolsLearn the 5-axis framework we use to benchmark React libraries. Covers bundle analysis, runtime profiling, accessibility audits, and statistical rigor.Apr 8, 2026 · 13 min readDeep-Dives
Building a plugin system for a product tour libraryDesign a TypeScript plugin system for product tours with event batching, lifecycle hooks, and tree-shaking. Real code from Tour Kit's analytics package.Apr 8, 2026 · 15 min readDeep-Dives
The architecture of a 10-package composable tour libraryHow Tour Kit splits tour logic across 10 tree-shakeable packages. Dependency graphs, bundle budgets, and tradeoffs behind a composable React monorepo.Apr 8, 2026 · 14 min readDeep-Dives
CSS layers and product tour styles: avoiding specificity conflictsUse CSS cascade layers to fix specificity conflicts between product tour components and your app. Practical @layer patterns for React tour libraries.Apr 8, 2026 · 9 min readDeep-Dives
Custom hooks API design in React: lessons from building Tour KitLearn how to design composable React hook APIs from a library author's perspective. Real patterns from Tour Kit's 10-package architecture with code examples.Apr 8, 2026 · 11 min readDeep-Dives
The DOM observation problem: ResizeObserver, MutationObserver, and toursMap ResizeObserver, MutationObserver, and IntersectionObserver to product tour problems they solve, with cleanup patterns and benchmarks.Apr 8, 2026 · 12 min readDeep-Dives
Element highlighting techniques: box-shadow, SVG cutout, or canvas?Compare three element highlighting approaches for product tours. Learn why Driver.js and React Joyride migrated from box-shadow to SVG cutout overlays.Apr 8, 2026 · 14 min readDeep-Dives
Floating UI vs Popper.js for tour positioning: 2026 comparisonCompare Floating UI and Popper.js for tooltip and tour positioning. See bundle sizes, middleware APIs, and migration paths to pick the right library.Apr 8, 2026 · 12 min readDeep-Dives
How SaaS onboarding tools inject their code (and why you should care)SaaS onboarding tools inject CDN scripts on every page load. Here are the performance, security, and maintenance costs vs. npm-installed libraries.Apr 8, 2026 · 1 min readDeep-Dives
Internationalization (i18n) in product tours: RTL, plurals, and moreLearn how to internationalize product tours in React. Covers RTL tooltip positioning, ICU plurals for step counters, ARIA translation, and i18n library choices.Apr 8, 2026 · 11 min readDeep-Dives
Lazy loading product tours with React.lazy and SuspenseLearn how to lazy load product tour components with React.lazy and Suspense. Cut initial bundle size, improve TTI, and keep tours instant with prefetch hints.Apr 8, 2026 · 13 min readDeep-Dives
Micro-frontends and product tours: shared state across federated modulesLearn how to run product tours across micro-frontend boundaries using shared state, custom events, and Module Federation. Includes working TypeScript patterns.Apr 8, 2026 · 12 min readDeep-Dives
How Appcues, Pendo, and UserGuiding affect your Core Web VitalsWe measured how three popular SaaS onboarding tools impact LCP, INP, and CLS — the metrics Google actually uses to rank your pages. Here's what the field data shows.Apr 8, 2026 · 12 min readDeep-Dives
The performance cost of onboarding SaaS tools: a Lighthouse auditMeasure how SaaS onboarding tools like Appcues, Pendo, and WalkMe affect Lighthouse scores. Compare third-party script impact vs client-side libraries.Apr 8, 2026 · 12 min readDeep-Dives
Portal rendering for product tours: a createPortal deep-diveLearn why React createPortal is essential for product tour overlays. Covers stacking contexts, event bubbling, accessibility, and performance.Apr 8, 2026 · 13 min readDeep-Dives
Tour Kit security: XSS prevention in dynamic tooltip contentHow product tour libraries handle XSS in tooltip rendering. Compare HTML string vs ReactNode, add DOMPurify, and configure CSP.Apr 9, 2026 · 8 min readDeep-Dives
React 19 concurrent mode and product tours: what you need to knowHow React 19 concurrent rendering affects product tours. Covers useTransition, useDeferredValue, and Suspense for lazy-loaded tour steps.Apr 8, 2026 · 9 min readDeep-Dives
React Compiler and product tours: what automatic memoization meansHow React Compiler's automatic memoization affects product tour libraries. Performance data, compatibility risks, and headless architecture.Apr 8, 2026 · 13 min readDeep-Dives
Scroll handling in product tours: the complete technical guideMaster scroll-to-element behavior in product tours. Covers scrollIntoView, scroll-margin, Floating UI autoUpdate, and WCAG focus management.Apr 8, 2026 · 12 min readDeep-Dives
Server components and client-side tours: the boundary problemReact Server Components break most tour libraries. Learn why the client boundary matters and how to architect tours that work with RSC.Apr 8, 2026 · 12 min readDeep-Dives
The state machine pattern for complex tour flowsModel product tours as finite state machines using XState v5 and Tour Kit. Eliminate impossible states, add conditional branching, and test flows with model-based testing.Apr 8, 2026 · 9 min readDeep-Dives
How Tour Kit ships at 8KB gzipped with zero runtime dependenciesA technical breakdown of the architecture decisions that keep Tour Kit under 8.1KB gzipped. Tree-shaking, code splitting, peer dependencies, and tsup config.Apr 8, 2026 · 11 min readDeep-Dives
Tree-shaking product tour libraries: what actually gets removed?We tested five React tour libraries with Vite's bundle analyzer. See what tree-shaking removes and how to verify it yourself.Apr 8, 2026 · 11 min readDeep-Dives
Virtual DOM diffing and product tours: why overlay rendering mattersHow React's virtual DOM diffing affects product tour overlays. Portal rendering vs DOM injection vs CSS positioning for tooltip performance.Apr 9, 2026 · 11 min readDeep-Dives
What is headless UI? A guide for onboarding engineersLearn what headless UI means for product tours and onboarding. See code examples and find out why headless beats styled libraries for design system teams.Apr 8, 2026 · 10 min readDeep-Dives
Why most product tour libraries break in strict modeReact Strict Mode breaks most tour libraries via double-rendered effects and leaked overlays. Learn what fails and how to audit your library.Apr 9, 2026 · 11 min readDeep-Dives
Z-index wars: how product tour overlays actually workLearn why z-index: 9999 fails in product tour overlays. Covers stacking contexts, React portals, the top layer API, and token-based z-index systems.Apr 8, 2026 · 15 min read