Contexts

A Context is a single condition that checks something about the current state of the application or the user. Contexts are the "if" part of a Contextual Action, defining when your content should be delivered.

Each Context is built from three parts: a type, an operator, and a status value. Together, these form a readable rule. For example: If element is present, or If content is completed.

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Context types

Element

Checks the presence or state of a specific UI element in the underlying application. You identify the element using a CSS selector.

Available statuses:

Each status also supports the is not operator. For example, If element is not present triggers when the element disappears from the page.

Use this when you want to react to something appearing on the page, a button being clicked, a checkbox being selected, or an input field receiving focus.

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User

Checks the activity state of the end user. Use this to detect whether a user has been active or inactive for a specified duration.

Available statuses:

When using the inactive status, you specify a duration in seconds (e.g. 30 seconds). The Contextual Action will trigger after the user has been idle for that long.Tab visibility note: The inactivity timer continues running while the browser tab is in the background. If the timer elapses while the tab is hidden, the Contextual Action triggers immediately when the user returns to the tab.

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Content

Checks how the end user has interacted with a specific piece of Userlane content (a Guide, Tooltip, Validator, or Message) within the current session.

Available statuses:

Use this to chain content together. For example, you could show a congratulations Message after a user completes a specific Guide, or load a follow-up Tooltip after a user views a particular piece of content.

When configuring a Content context, you select both the content type (Guide, Tooltip, Validator, or Message) and the specific content item you want to evaluate.

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Combining multiple Contexts

You can add multiple Contexts to a single Contextual Action. When you do, you choose how they're combined:

• Match All (AND), all conditions must be true at the same time. This is the default.

• Match Any (OR), any single condition being true is enough to trigger the Actions.

The toggle between AND and OR applies to all Contexts within the Contextual Action. The label between your Contexts updates to show "and" or "or" so you can easily see the logic at a glance.

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Reusing Contexts

Contexts are independent, reusable entities. You can create a Context once and apply it to multiple Contextual Actions. This means you don't need to recreate the same condition every time you need it.

If you later update a Context, the change automatically applies everywhere it's used, taking effect on the next page load. Active sessions continue using the Context version that was loaded at session start.

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Automatic naming

Contexts are automatically named based on their configuration, so you don't need to label them manually. The generated name reflects the type, operator, and value of the condition (e.g. User: is inactive (5s), Element: is present, Guide 'Onboarding': is completed).

The name updates live as you adjust the Context. If a referenced content item has been deleted, the name shows [deleted] in its place so the Context remains identifiable.

Since Contexts are reusable across multiple Contextual Actions, the auto-generated name makes it easy to identify and select the right Context without needing to open it.

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Example Context configurations

Here are some common Context setups to illustrate how the three parts work together: