@DanH yes I might have to think about a solution how to address individual subcomponents - maybe I can use the CSS selectors as they are already assigned to most components regardless of whether CSS is used, eg:
const var ft = Content.getComponent("Matrix");
ft.setChildTooltips({
".search": "A search bar that can be used to filter modulation connections",
"#intensity": "Changes the intensity of the modulation connection",
".plotter": "Displays a histogram of the modulation signal for this connection"
});