dees-wcctools/readme.hints.md

# Project Hints and Findings

## Properties Panel Element Detection Issue (Fixed)

### Problem
The properties panel had timing issues detecting rendered elements because:
1. Elements are rendered asynchronously via lit's `render()` function in the dashboard component
2. The properties panel tried to find elements immediately without waiting for render completion
3. Element search only looked at direct children of the viewport, missing nested elements or those inside shadow DOM

### Solution Implemented
1. Added a 100ms initial delay to allow render completion
2. Implemented recursive element search that:
   - Searches through nested children up to 5 levels deep
   - Checks shadow roots of elements
   - Handles complex DOM structures
3. Added retry mechanism with up to 5 attempts (200ms between retries)
4. Improved error messages to show retry count

### Code Flow
1. Dashboard renders element demo into viewport using `render(anonItem.demo(), viewport)`
2. Properties panel waits, then searches recursively for the element instance
3. If not found, retries with delays to handle async rendering
4. Once found, extracts and displays element properties

## Demo Tools

### DeesDemoWrapper Component
A utility component for wrapping demo elements with post-render functionality.

**Usage:**
```typescript
import * as demoTools from '@design.estate/dees-wcctools/demotools';

// In your demo function:
demo: () => html`
  <dees-demowrapper .runAfterRender=${(children: HTMLCollection) => {
    // Access all slotted elements
    const firstElement = children[0] as HTMLElement;
    firstElement.setAttribute('data-demo', 'true');
    console.log('All slotted elements:', children);
    
    // Work with multiple elements
    Array.from(children).forEach(child => {
      console.log('Element rendered:', child);
    });
  }}>
    <my-custom-element></my-custom-element>
    <div>Additional content</div>
  </dees-demowrapper>
`
```

**Features:**
- Wraps demo elements without affecting layout (uses `display: contents`)
- Provides access to ALL slotted elements via HTMLCollection after mounting
- Supports async operations in runAfterRender callback
- Automatically handles timing to ensure elements are fully rendered
- Can handle multiple slotted elements, not just the first one