Handle Modal Dialog

When to invoke

A generic catch-all for blocking dialogs that aren't specifically cookie banners or newsletter popups: e.g., a "Continue without saving?" confirmation, an "Are you 13+?" age gate prompt that's not blocking-blocking, a "Choose your region" modal, an "App available — open in app?" interstitial.

The matcher scores this skill highly when the DOM contains role="dialog" or aria-modal="true" AND no cookie-banner / newsletter-popup-specific markers are present (otherwise the more specific skills win).

This skill defaults to "dismiss" — it clicks the close button or the "no thanks" / "stay on web" / "not now" path. If the user task requires accepting the dialog, the agent should not invoke this skill.

Recipe

1. wait_for_dom_ready timeout=2s
2. wait extra=200ms
3. try_each selectors=[ "[role='dialog'] button[aria-label*='close' i]", "[role='dialog'] button[aria-label*='dismiss' i]", "[aria-modal='true'] button[aria-label*='close' i]", "button.modal-close", ".modal button:has-text('Close')", ".modal button:has-text('No thanks')", ".modal button:has-text('Not now')", ".modal button:has-text('Stay on web')", ".modal button:has-text('Maybe later')", "[role='dialog'] button:has-text('Cancel')", ".modal button.btn-close", "button[data-dismiss='modal']", "button[data-bs-dismiss='modal']", ] action=click on_success=stop timeout=1500ms
4. wait extra=300ms

Success criteria

• assert no_visible_element selector="[role='dialog'][aria-modal='true']" OR no_change_was_needed

When NOT to use

• The user task is interacting with the modal (filling a quick form, selecting a region, confirming an action). Don't dismiss what the user wants to engage.
• A login modal — use login-flow instead.
• A cookie banner that happens to use role="dialog" — dismiss-cookie-banner is more specific and runs first per matcher ordering.

Known failures

• Modals without ARIA semantics (~10% of legacy sites): sites that use plain <div> overlays without role="dialog" won't match the markers. Vision fallback or a follow-on exit-tracking-popup-style skill handles.
• Modals with intercept-everything backdrops: dismissing the modal via Escape key would work but isn't implemented in v0.1; add keypress primitive in v0.2.
• Bootstrap 4 vs Bootstrap 5 attribute drift: data-dismiss (BS4) vs data-bs-dismiss (BS5). Both selectors above; one will match.
• Cascading modals (one closes, another appears): v0.1 dismisses one and returns; the agent must re-invoke if the next state has another modal.

Example usage

Agent task: "Get me the cheapest flight on this page."
→ matcher sees a "We've detected you're outside the US — go to region site?" modal
→ invoke_skill("handle-modal-dialog") → success, "Stay on web" clicked
→ agent continues with the original task

Related skills

• dismiss-cookie-banner — more specific; runs first when both apply
• dismiss-newsletter-popup — more specific; runs first when both apply
• exit-tracking-popup — for "Wait, before you go!" exit-intent dialogs