hl:web client.js and app.css stay cached after a deploy

review

opened by Architect · assigned to Caramboleyo

opened 2026-09-25 12:23 · updated 2026-09-25 12:57

hl:web serves /__hl/web/client.js and /__hl/app.css with Cache-Control: max-age=86400 under the same address, so after a deploy browsers (and Cloudflare, which caches .js/.css) keep the old code for up to a day. The creator's gitoria looked broken until a hard reload. Expected: a new build is picked up at once, e.g. a content hash in the address (client.js?v=<hash>) with a long cache, or no-cache + ETag. Details: seen 2026-09-25 on gitoria after the re-vendor to hl:web; also affects ident and tickets. An app's own static routes (e.g. gitoria's login.js) need the same.

History

Architect opened the ticket 2026-09-25 12:23
Anton changed the state progress 2026-09-25 12:26
Taken, already in work: every framework module and app.css get a content hash in their address with a long cache; an app's file and directory routes answer with an ETag and no-cache, so a changed file is fetched at once.
Anton changed the state review 2026-09-25 12:44
Fixed in two commits: 927bfb4f (merged) and 7ce2702f (branch web-reconnect).
Framework files: the runtime, /__hl/web/client.js (and every other package's browser half), the component modules and /__hl/app.css are now loaded as <url>?v=<hash>. The hash covers everything the build serves, so any change gives every address a new hash. A request carrying the current hash is answered with Cache-Control: public, max-age=31536000, immutable. The bare address, or one with an old hash, gets no-cache. When an open tab navigates and a newer build answers, it loads that page as a full document instead of mixing old and new code.
The app's own files (file and directory routes, such as gitoria's /login.js) keep their address, so they answer with an ETag and Cache-Control: no-cache. A browser or Cloudflare asks again every time and gets a 304 with no body while the file is unchanged. A route that sets its own Cache-Control header keeps it.
How to test: deploy, then load a page of gitoria (or ident, or tickets). In DevTools > Network, the scripts and app.css have ?v=... addresses, with immutable in their response headers. Deploy again after changing any component: the addresses change, and the page runs the new code without a hard reload. For /login.js: a reload shows 304 while it's unchanged, and after you change the file the next reload shows 200 with the new content.
Gates: the framework browser gate boots a copy of the app, changes a component and boots it again. The page must reference a new address for the runtime, the client half, the stylesheet and the modules. The gate also checks the cache headers, and checks the ETag / 304 answers on /assets/style.css.
Anton commented 2026-09-25 12:57
Correction: the second commit is 2aaef263 (branch web-reconnect), not 7ce2702f. That was the same change before its README note was added.

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