Contextual / just-in-time help
Help delivered at the exact spot and second someone needs it, instead of in docs they will never open.
See it
What it is
Answering the question at the spot where it gets asked. In practice: hint text under an input, an example of a valid value, a popover behind an info icon, a sentence in an empty state explaining what this thing is for, a one-line note next to the scary toggle. The opposite of a help center nobody opens.
Reach for it when a field or control needs a sentence of context that does not fit in its label. Work down the ladder in order: make the thing self-evident, then add always-visible hint text, then a click-to-open popover, then a link to real docs. Each rung costs the user more effort, so only drop down when the rung above genuinely will not fit.
Gotcha: information required to complete the task does not belong inside a hover tooltip. Hover fails on touch, is awkward on keyboard, and hides the answer from exactly the person who needed it. If they must read it, it is a label or hint, not a tooltip. The other failure mode is help that never retires: hints beside every field become wallpaper, and returning users read none of them.
Ask AI for it
Add contextual help to this form. For each field that needs explanation, put a short, always-visible hint line under the input in muted text, with a concrete example of a valid value. Reserve the info-icon popover for longer background only, and make it open on click or keyboard focus (not hover), with a real button element, an aria-label, dismissal on Esc and outside click, and a link to full docs at the end. Never hide required formatting rules inside the popover, and do not repeat what the label already says.