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Questioning Spell

The QuestioningSpell component transforms your cursor into an interactive exploration tool that reveals hidden information when hovering over elements. It’s perfect for creating educational interfaces, providing contextual help, or building discovery-based experiences.

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Features

  • Interactive Cursor: Custom reticle cursor with smooth animations
  • Data Attribute Detection: Automatically finds data-question attributes
  • Visual Feedback: Rotating reticle that locks onto targets
  • Tooltip Display: Shows contextual information on hover
  • Theme Aware: Adapts to Cedar’s color scheme
  • Keyboard Activation: Default ‘Q’ key toggle

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Installation

import { QuestioningSpell } from 'cedar-os-components/spells';

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Basic Usage

import { QuestioningSpell } from 'cedar-os-components/spells';

function MyComponent() {
	return (
		<>
			{/* Add the spell to your app */}
			<QuestioningSpell />

			{/* Add data-question attributes to elements */}
			<div className='p-4'>
				<button
					data-question='This button submits the form and saves your data'
					className='bg-blue-500 text-white px-4 py-2 rounded'>
					Save
				</button>

				<span
					data-question='This metric shows the total number of active users in the last 30 days'
					className='font-bold'>
					Active Users: 1,234
				</span>
			</div>
		</>
	);
}
Press ‘Q’ to activate the questioning mode, then hover over elements to see their explanations.

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Props

PropTypeRequiredDefaultDescription
spellIdstringNo'questioning-spell'Unique identifier for this spell instance
activationConditionsActivationConditionsNoQ key toggleCustom activation conditions

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Customization

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Custom Activation

Change the activation key or mode: 
import { Hotkey, ActivationMode } from 'cedar-os';

<QuestioningSpell
	spellId='help-cursor'
	activationConditions={{
		events: [Hotkey.H], // Press 'H' instead of 'Q'
		mode: ActivationMode.TOGGLE,
	}}
/>;

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Hold Mode

Use hold mode for temporary activation: 
<QuestioningSpell
	activationConditions={{
		events: [Hotkey.SHIFT],
		mode: ActivationMode.HOLD, // Active only while holding Shift
	}}
/>

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Multiple Triggers

Support multiple activation methods: 
<QuestioningSpell
	activationConditions={{
		events: [Hotkey.Q, 'alt+h', 'f1'],
		mode: ActivationMode.TOGGLE,
	}}
/>

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Advanced Examples

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Educational Interface

Create an educational UI with detailed explanations: 
function MathLesson() {
	return (
		<>
			<QuestioningSpell />

			<div className='lesson'>
				<h2>Quadratic Formula</h2>

				<div className='formula'>
					<span data-question="The coefficient 'a' represents the quadratic term">
						a
					</span>
					<span>x²</span>
					<span> + </span>
					<span data-question="The coefficient 'b' represents the linear term">
						b
					</span>
					<span>x</span>
					<span> + </span>
					<span data-question="The coefficient 'c' is the constant term">
						c
					</span>
					<span> = 0</span>
				</div>

				<div
					className='solution'
					data-question='This formula finds the x-values where the parabola crosses the x-axis'>
					x = (-b ± √(b² - 4ac)) / 2a
				</div>
			</div>
		</>
	);
}

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Dashboard with Metrics

Add context to complex data visualizations: 
function Dashboard() {
	return (
		<>
			<QuestioningSpell />

			<div className='grid grid-cols-3 gap-4'>
				<div
					className='metric-card'
					data-question='Revenue from the last 30 days compared to the previous period'>
					<h3>Monthly Revenue</h3>
					<p className='text-2xl'>$45,231</p>
					<span className='text-green-500'>+12.5%</span>
				</div>

				<div
					className='metric-card'
					data-question='Average time users spend on the platform per session'>
					<h3>Avg. Session Duration</h3>
					<p className='text-2xl'>8m 34s</p>
					<span className='text-red-500'>-5.2%</span>
				</div>

				<div
					className='metric-card'
					data-question='Percentage of users who completed the onboarding flow'>
					<h3>Onboarding Completion</h3>
					<p className='text-2xl'>73%</p>
					<span className='text-green-500'>+8.1%</span>
				</div>
			</div>
		</>
	);
}

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Form with Field Help

Provide inline help for form fields: 
function RegistrationForm() {
	return (
		<>
			<QuestioningSpell />

			<form className='space-y-4'>
				<div>
					<label
						htmlFor='username'
						data-question='Choose a unique username between 3-20 characters. This will be your public identifier.'>
						Username *
					</label>
					<input id='username' type='text' />
				</div>

				<div>
					<label
						htmlFor='email'
						data-question="We'll use this email for account recovery and important notifications only.">
						Email Address *
					</label>
					<input id='email' type='email' />
				</div>

				<div>
					<label
						htmlFor='timezone'
						data-question='Your timezone helps us schedule notifications and display times correctly.'>
						Timezone
					</label>
					<select id='timezone'>
						<option>Select timezone...</option>
					</select>
				</div>

				<button
					type='submit'
					data-question="Submit the form to create your account. You'll receive a confirmation email.">
					Create Account
				</button>
			</form>
		</>
	);
}

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Dynamic Questions

Generate questions based on data: 
function ProductList({ products }) {
	return (
		<>
			<QuestioningSpell />

			<div className='grid grid-cols-4 gap-4'>
				{products.map((product) => (
					<div
						key={product.id}
						className='product-card'
						data-question={`${product.name}: ${product.description}. In stock: ${product.stock} units. Rating: ${product.rating}/5`}>
						<img src={product.image} alt={product.name} />
						<h3>{product.name}</h3>
						<p>${product.price}</p>
					</div>
				))}
			</div>
		</>
	);
}

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Visual Behavior

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Cursor States

The questioning cursor has two visual states:
  1. Searching State: Continuously rotating reticle when not hovering over a target
  2. Locked State: Snaps to nearest 180° and scales slightly when hovering over an element with data-question

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Animation Details

  • Rotation Speed: 3 seconds per full rotation when searching
  • Lock Animation: Spring animation with bounce when locking onto target
  • Debounce: 200ms delay before releasing lock to prevent flicker

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Theme Integration

The cursor automatically uses Cedar’s theme colors:
  • Uses styling.color from Cedar store for the reticle color
  • Falls back to #3b82f6 (blue) if no color is set
  • Tooltip background matches the theme color

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Best Practices

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1. Write Clear Explanations

// ✅ Good: Specific and helpful
data-question="This button saves your draft and creates a backup. Auto-save happens every 5 minutes."

// ❌ Avoid: Vague or redundant
data-question="This is a button"

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2. Keep Tooltips Concise

// ✅ Good: Brief but informative
data-question="Shows revenue trends for the last 90 days"

// ❌ Avoid: Too lengthy
data-question="This chart displays the revenue trends for your organization over the last 90 days, including daily, weekly, and monthly breakdowns with comparison to previous periods..."

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3. Add Context Where Needed

// ✅ Good: Explains non-obvious functionality
<Icon
  name="shield"
  data-question="Protected by 256-bit encryption"
/>

// ❌ Unnecessary: Obvious elements
<button data-question="Click to submit">
  Submit
</button>

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4. Use for Progressive Disclosure

// Show basic info in UI, details in question
<div className='status-badge'>
	<span>Processing</span>
	<Icon
		name='info'
		data-question="Your request is in the queue. Estimated time: 2-3 minutes. You'll receive an email when complete."
	/>
</div>

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Technical Implementation

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How It Works

  1. Activation: User presses ‘Q’ (or custom key) to activate
  2. Event Listening: Listens to mousemove events when active
  3. Element Detection: Uses Element.closest('[data-question]') to find attributes
  4. Tooltip Display: Shows tooltip with the attribute value
  5. Cursor Enhancement: Uses motion-plus-react for smooth cursor animations

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Performance Considerations

  • Event Delegation: Single mousemove listener for all elements
  • Debounced Animations: Prevents excessive re-renders
  • Conditional Rendering: Only renders when spell is active
  • Ref-based State: Uses refs for animation values to avoid re-renders

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Styling

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Custom Tooltip Styles

While the component provides a default tooltip, you can customize it: 
/* Override default tooltip styles */
.questioning-tooltip {
	background: linear-gradient(135deg, #667eea 0%, #764ba2 100%);
	backdrop-filter: blur(10px);
	border: 1px solid rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.2);
}

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Cursor Customization

The cursor consists of corner brackets that form a reticle: 
// Corner dimensions (defined in component)
const thickness = 2; // Line thickness
const length = 10; // Line length
const size = 38; // Overall reticle size

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Accessibility

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Keyboard Navigation

  • The spell can be activated via keyboard (default: ‘Q’)
  • Consider providing alternative ways to access the same information

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Screen Reader Support

For better accessibility, consider also providing the information in screen-reader accessible ways: 
<button
	data-question='Saves your work'
	aria-label='Save your work'
	title='Save your work'>
	Save
</button>

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Alternative Access

Provide multiple ways to access help information: 
function AccessibleHelp() {
	const [showHelp, setShowHelp] = useState(false);

	return (
		<>
			<QuestioningSpell />

			{/* Visual indicator that help is available */}
			<button onClick={() => setShowHelp(!showHelp)}>Toggle Help Mode</button>

			{/* Alternative help display */}
			{showHelp && <HelpPanel />}
		</>
	);
}

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Troubleshooting

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Tooltip not appearing

  • Verify data-question attribute is set correctly
  • Check that the spell is activated (press ‘Q’)
  • Ensure QuestioningSpell component is mounted

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Cursor not changing

  • Check motion-plus-react is installed and configured
  • Verify no CSS conflicts with cursor styles
  • Ensure spell activation is working

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Performance issues

  • Reduce the number of elements with data-question if excessive
  • Consider lazy-loading content with many questionable elements
  • Check for memory leaks in tooltip content generation