# Concept

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# Consumers / Future Overlay Client (Concept)

This page describes a **possible** overlay-style client as a downstream consumer of Ariane.

It is intentionally non-normative: Ariane’s core scope is limited to exploration (Theseus) and storage/semantics (Atlas). An overlay client is one way to use that data, not a requirement of the project.

## Concept

A future overlay client would:

- Run alongside existing applications.
- Recognize the current UI state.
- Query Atlas for recommended next actions.
- Render hints directly on top of the application (e.g., highlights, arrows, step counters).

From Ariane’s perspective, this client is simply:

> A consumer that performs real-time state recognition and uses Atlas for next-step suggestions and path planning.

All rendering, input interception, and user interaction are handled by the client itself.

## Responsibilities of the Overlay Client

An overlay-style client (if built) would handle:

1. **Local observation**
- Capture UI structure via accessibility APIs or screen capture + detection.
- Compute or approximate fingerprints compatible with Atlas.

2. **State recognition via Atlas**
- Query Atlas: “Which state does this UI most closely match?”
- Use returned `state_id`, elements, and semantics.

3. **Guidance retrieval**
- Given a goal (intent) or a predefined workflow:
- Use Atlas to find the next transition(s) and target elements.
- Retrieve element roles, labels, bounds, and intents.

4. **Visual overlay**
- Draw highlights or markers at the coordinates of target elements.
- Optionally dim the rest of the UI, show step counters, etc.

5. **Interaction handling (optional)**
- Optionally intercept clicks or keystrokes to:
- Enforce a guided path.
- Confirm that the user followed the suggested step.

None of these behaviors are mandated or implemented by Ariane itself; they are purely client-side responsibilities.

## Interaction with Atlas

From a data standpoint, the overlay client behaves like any other agent:

- Uses Atlas for:
- State recognition (matching fingerprints).
- Transition lookup (outgoing edges).
- Intent-based planning (goal-directed pathfinding).

- Uses its own UI representation for:
- Rendering.
- Input handling.
- Error detection and recovery.

Ariane remains unaware of how the data is rendered or presented to users.

## Privacy and Local Processing (Recommended)

While not enforced by Ariane, a reasonable overlay design would:

- Perform all screen capture and accessibility access locally.
- Send only:
- Structural/hashed fingerprints.
- Context identifiers (app, version, platform).
- Avoid sending raw screenshots, text content, or user data to remote services when not necessary.

These are design recommendations for any future overlay consumer, not requirements of the core spec.

## Non-Goals for Ariane

To keep the scope clear:

- Ariane does **not** define any UI framework or library for drawing overlays.
- Ariane does **not** require any particular client to exist.
- Ariane does **not** specify UX rules for guided walkthroughs.

The only requirement is that any consumer—overlay or otherwise—must be able to:

- Recognize states.
- Query transitions and intents.
- Use the graph in a way that respects its semantics.

## Related Pages

- Consumers (/technology/ariane/consumers) – overview of consumer types, including overlay as one example.
- Consumers/AI-Agent-Integration (/technology/ariane/consumers/ai-agents) – how agents use Atlas for planning and guidance.
- Atlas (/technology/ariane/atlas) – data and semantics that overlay clients would query.
- Theseus (/technology/ariane/theseus) – how the underlying UI graphs are discovered in the first place.