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zogstrip · July 31, 2026, 2:52pm

Looks like the issue is coming form the bfcache-compatible headers.

github.com/discourse/discourse

FIX: Prevent browsers from restoring stale documents in bfcache mode (#42207)

main ← fix-bfcache-stale-document-restores

merged 03:24PM - 31 Jul 26 UTC

ZogStriP

+148 -10

Previously, enabling `cache_control_bfcache_compatibility` (the experiment curre…ntly running on meta, #38763) made HTML documents storable in the browser HTTP cache, and browsers skip revalidation on history navigations — so back/forward, session restore, and discarded-tab reloads could resurrect a days-old document: stale topic lists that only get older, and logged-in UI shown to logged-out sessions (and vice versa). Reported in https://meta.discourse.org/t/400459. This change keeps the documents out of shared caches (`no-cache, private`), reloads any document that was served from the HTTP cache on a history navigation (navigation entry with `type === "back_forward"` and `transferSize === 0` — a forced reload gets type `"reload"`, so it cannot loop), and validates the session on `pageshow` restores from the back/forward cache, reloading when the logged-in user no longer matches the one the page booted with. Both client-side checks only run when the setting is enabled; the full rationale (browser-engine specifics, why `transferSize` rather than `deliveryType`, why `fetch` rather than `ajax`) is in the commit message. Reproduced and verified end-to-end in Chromium and Firefox: with the setting enabled, `goBack()` served `/latest` with zero network contact — stale list, wrong login state, and the exact `403 /u/:username/private-message-topic-tracking-state` errors from the meta report; with this change the same navigation heals with a single automatic reload, and a control run with the setting disabled behaves as before.

cc @Falco

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