logic/correctness

Failed refresh erases last known value

#45rare3 sightingsfirst seen September 2026

What goes wrong

A re-read that can fail writes its result straight into the variable or view holding the last successful value. One transient failure replaces known state with nothing, and everything that depended on it — the UI, a kept identity, the number a final report prints — is destroyed.

Example

The screen stores whatever the fetch returns; the fetch fails, nothing is written over the previous data, and the screen that was showing it collapses.

Not to be confused with

Not a failed read used as the starting point for a destructive write (Failed read becomes destructive patch input) and not an access check failing open.

Discovered by

@sks24git GitHub

Field notes · 1

@sks24git2026-10-06
A list hook re-reads on every page change and writes a failed read over the last good list. One flaky request during navigation wipes every tab, and an error box stands where a correct list was.
Keep the last good data on a failed refresh. An error should add a retry, not erase what was right a page ago.
Test the refresh that fails after one that succeeded. Pending-only tests miss it.