merge: e2e page loads retried on a machine out of buffers (improvement/e2e-goto-retry)

net::ERR_NO_BUFFER_SPACE stopped a release at its first page with nothing else running, and the
unchanged rerun passed. Every page load of the suite now goes through one helper, held by a test.

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -7,6 +7,12 @@ edit the release notes and re-run the generator.
 
 Upgrading, pinning a version and rolling back: [docs/self-hosting.md](docs/self-hosting.md#upgrading).
 
+## 0.116.3 — 2026-11-04
+
+### Fixed
+
+- If a stylesheet is lost on the way, the app now asks for it again, so a poor connection no longer leaves the page unstyled until a reload.
+
 ## 0.116.2 — 2026-11-03
 
 ### Fixed

VERSION

@@ -1 +1 @@
-0.116.2
+0.116.3

frontend/e2e/README.md

@@ -24,6 +24,10 @@ outlives an `expect` timeout); Node does not, so a request from the test side fa
 that one error again and passes every other failure straight on. Don't run two e2e suites on the
 same machine at once.
 
+**A page load the machine had no buffer for** — on the same host a page load can fail at once with
+`net::ERR_NO_BUFFER_SPACE`. Every page load goes through `gotoRetrying` (same file), which tries that
+one error again; a test that calls `page.goto` itself fails `src/lib/e2eRetryConnect.test.ts`.
+
 **Browsers** — every flow runs in three projects: `chromium` (Desktop Chrome), `webkit` (Desktop
 Safari) and `ipad` (iPad gen 7 landscape: 1080×810, touch, mobile) — except `a11y`, `member` and
 `devices`, which run on chromium only (`CHROMIUM_ONLY`; why is in the `docs/gates.md` row). Install the engines once per

frontend/e2e/global.setup.ts

@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ import { mkdirSync, readFileSync, writeFileSync } from "node:fs";
 import { dirname, resolve } from "node:path";
 import { fileURLToPath } from "node:url";
 import { MEMBER_STORAGE, SEED_FILE } from "./helpers";
-import { retryConnect } from "./retryConnect";
+import { gotoRetrying, retryConnect } from "./retryConnect";
 
 /**
  * One-time setup for the characterization net (the `setup` project the tests depend on):
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ async function signIn(page: Page, email: string, path: string): Promise<void> {
   // and player flows this net locks all open "/" expecting the feed; the opt-out is the one
   // Settings → Appearance → Startup writes. Both flags are the account's local state, held for the
   // account the browser records as their owner (`siftlode.owner`, see storage.ts claimLocalData).
-  await page.goto("/");
+  await gotoRetrying(page, "/");
   await page.evaluate((id: number) => {
     localStorage.setItem("siftlode.owner", String(id));
     localStorage.setItem("siftlode.lang", "en");

frontend/e2e/helpers.ts

@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { readFileSync } from "node:fs";
 import { expect, type Page } from "@playwright/test";
+import { gotoRetrying } from "./retryConnect";
 
 /** The plain member's saved session (global.setup.ts signs it in); `member.spec.ts` and
  *  `devices.spec.ts` run from it. */
@@ -16,7 +17,7 @@ export function seeded(key: string): string[] {
 
 /** Open the app and wait for the authenticated shell (the nav rail) to be ready. */
 export async function openApp(page: Page, path = "/"): Promise<void> {
-  await page.goto(path);
+  await gotoRetrying(page, path);
   await expect(page.getByTestId("nav-feed")).toBeVisible();
 }
 

frontend/e2e/retryConnect.ts

@@ -11,6 +11,19 @@ const METHODS = new Set(["get", "post", "put", "patch", "delete", "head", "fetch
 const NO_CONNECTION = /\bconnect ETIMEDOUT\b/;
 const WAITS_MS = [500, 1000, 2000, 4000, 8000];
 
+/** `attempt` again after each wait while it fails with `transient`; any other failure goes on. */
+async function tryAgain<R>(attempt: () => Promise<R>, transient: RegExp): Promise<R> {
+  for (let i = 0; ; i++) {
+    try {
+      return await attempt();
+    } catch (e) {
+      const wait = WAITS_MS[i];
+      if (wait === undefined || !transient.test(String((e as Error)?.message))) throw e;
+      await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, wait));
+    }
+  }
+}
+
 /** `ctx` with its request methods trying a connect that timed out again (see above). */
 export function retryConnect<T extends object>(ctx: T): T {
   return new Proxy(ctx, {
@@ -18,17 +31,19 @@ export function retryConnect<T extends object>(ctx: T): T {
       const v: unknown = Reflect.get(target, key, target);
       if (typeof v !== "function") return v;
       if (typeof key !== "string" || !METHODS.has(key)) return v.bind(target);
-      return async (...args: unknown[]) => {
+      return (...args: unknown[]) =>
-        for (let i = 0; ; i++) {
+        tryAgain(() => Promise.resolve(v.apply(target, args)), NO_CONNECTION);
-          try {
-            return await v.apply(target, args);
-          } catch (e) {
-            const wait = WAITS_MS[i];
-            if (wait === undefined || !NO_CONNECTION.test(String((e as Error)?.message))) throw e;
-            await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, wait));
-          }
-        }
-      };
     },
   });
 }
+
+// A page load has a failure of its own on the same machine: `net::ERR_NO_BUFFER_SPACE`, the socket
+// call refused for the moment. It stopped a release's e2e at its first page (0.116.3, with nothing
+// else running; 0.107.3 aborted on it too), and the unchanged rerun passed. A browser does not try
+// a main document again by itself, and the request never left, so this does. The suite's every page
+// load goes through here (`e2eRetryConnect.test.ts`).
+const NO_BUFFER = /\bERR_NO_BUFFER_SPACE\b/;
+
+export function gotoRetrying<R>(page: { goto(url: string): Promise<R> }, url: string): Promise<R> {
+  return tryAgain(() => page.goto(url), NO_BUFFER);
+}

frontend/e2e/speed.measure.ts

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import { test, type Page } from "@playwright/test";
 import { execFileSync } from "node:child_process";
 import { mkdirSync, writeFileSync } from "node:fs";
-import { retryConnect } from "./retryConnect";
+import { gotoRetrying, retryConnect } from "./retryConnect";
 
 /**
  * The speed baseline: numbers, not assertions — read by `scripts/audit_metrics.py --speed`, which
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ test("speed baseline", async ({ browser, page: page0 }) => {
   for (let i = 0; i < RUNS; i++) {
     const ctx = await browser.newContext();
     const page = await ctx.newPage();
-    await page.goto("/");
+    await gotoRetrying(page, "/");
     // Timed inside the page, every frame: an `expect` would read the clock on its own retry
     // schedule (100 ms … 1 s steps), not when the card appeared.
     const at = await page.waitForFunction(
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ test("speed baseline", async ({ browser, page: page0 }) => {
     for (let i = 0; i < RUNS; i++) {
       const ctx = await browser.newContext({ storageState: { cookies: [], origins: [] } });
       const page = await ctx.newPage();
-      await page.goto(`/watch/${token}`);
+      await gotoRetrying(page, `/watch/${token}`);
       await page.waitForFunction(() => document.querySelector("video, audio"), null, {
         polling: "raf",
         timeout: 30_000,

frontend/e2e/stylesheet.spec.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+import { test, expect, type Page } from "@playwright/test";
+import { openApp } from "./helpers";
+import { gotoRetrying } from "./retryConnect";
+
+// A request can be lost on the way on a loaded machine or a poor line. A lost stylesheet leaves the
+// whole page unstyled, and every test that finds its elements by testid still passes on it: only an
+// axe run ever noticed (8 controls under the target size). So this looks at the styles themselves.
+
+/** Lose the first request for every stylesheet of the page; the ones after it go through. */
+async function loseEachStylesheetOnce(page: Page): Promise<string[]> {
+  const lost: string[] = [];
+  await page.route(/\/assets\/[^/]+\.css/, async (route) => {
+    const url = route.request().url();
+    if (lost.includes(url)) return route.continue();
+    lost.push(url);
+    return route.abort("failed");
+  });
+  return lost;
+}
+
+/** Every stylesheet link of the page holds rules (a lost one still has a `sheet`, whose rules throw
+ *  on reading), and the page's own tokens are in force: `--bg` comes from the stylesheet alone, while
+ *  `--font-scale` would prove nothing, the app also sets it from script. */
+async function expectStyled(page: Page): Promise<void> {
+  await expect
+    .poll(() =>
+      page.evaluate(() => {
+        const hasRules = (l: HTMLLinkElement) => {
+          try {
+            return (l.sheet?.cssRules.length ?? 0) > 0;
+          } catch {
+            return false;
+          }
+        };
+        const links = [...document.querySelectorAll<HTMLLinkElement>('link[rel="stylesheet"]')];
+        const root = getComputedStyle(document.documentElement);
+        return {
+          links: links.length > 0,
+          rules: links.every(hasRules),
+          tokens: root.getPropertyValue("--bg").trim() !== "",
+        };
+      }),
+    )
+    .toEqual({ links: true, rules: true, tokens: true });
+}
+
+test("the app gets back a stylesheet lost on the way", async ({ page }) => {
+  const lost = await loseEachStylesheetOnce(page);
+  await openApp(page);
+  expect(lost.length).toBeGreaterThan(0);
+  await expectStyled(page);
+});
+
+test("a public /watch link gets back a stylesheet lost on the way", async ({ page }) => {
+  const lost = await loseEachStylesheetOnce(page);
+  // No such link: the page says so, and it is the same entry with the same stylesheet.
+  await gotoRetrying(page, "/watch/no-such-token");
+  await expect(page.locator("#root")).not.toBeEmpty();
+  expect(lost.length).toBeGreaterThan(0);
+  await expectStyled(page);
+});

frontend/src/content/release-notes/en.json

@@ -1,4 +1,12 @@
 [
+  {
+    "version": "0.116.3",
+    "date": "2026-11-04",
+    "new": [],
+    "fixed": [
+      "If a stylesheet is lost on the way, the app now asks for it again, so a poor connection no longer leaves the page unstyled until a reload."
+    ]
+  },
   {
     "version": "0.116.2",
     "date": "2026-11-03",

frontend/src/content/release-notes/hu.json

@@ -1,4 +1,12 @@
 [
+  {
+    "version": "0.116.3",
+    "date": "2026-11-04",
+    "new": [],
+    "fixed": [
+      "Ha egy stíluslap elvész útközben, az app most újra lekéri, így a rossz kapcsolat miatt nem marad formázatlan az oldal újratöltésig."
+    ]
+  },
   {
     "version": "0.116.2",
     "date": "2026-11-03",

frontend/src/lib/e2eRetryConnect.test.ts

@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 // The e2e suite's request wrapper (e2e/retryConnect.ts): a connect that never came about is tried
 // again, as every TCP stack would; any other failure, or an answer, goes straight to the test.
+import { readdirSync, readFileSync } from "node:fs";
 import { describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
-import { retryConnect } from "../../e2e/retryConnect";
+import { gotoRetrying, retryConnect } from "../../e2e/retryConnect";
 
 const noConnection = () => new Error("apiRequestContext.get: connect ETIMEDOUT 127.0.0.1:8080");
 
@@ -39,3 +40,43 @@ describe("retryConnect", () => {
     vi.useRealTimers();
   });
 });
+
+// The text Playwright gave when this stopped a release's e2e at its first page load (2026-11-04).
+const noBuffer = () => new Error("page.goto: net::ERR_NO_BUFFER_SPACE at http://127.0.0.1:8080/");
+
+describe("gotoRetrying", () => {
+  it("tries a page load the machine had no buffer for again", async () => {
+    vi.useFakeTimers();
+    const goto = vi.fn().mockRejectedValueOnce(noBuffer()).mockResolvedValue("response");
+    const answer = gotoRetrying({ goto }, "/feed");
+    await vi.runAllTimersAsync();
+    await expect(answer).resolves.toBe("response");
+    expect(goto).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2);
+    expect(goto).toHaveBeenLastCalledWith("/feed");
+    vi.useRealTimers();
+  });
+
+  it("passes any other failure straight on, untried", async () => {
+    const goto = vi.fn().mockRejectedValue(new Error("page.goto: net::ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED"));
+    await expect(gotoRetrying({ goto }, "/")).rejects.toThrow("ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED");
+    expect(goto).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+  });
+
+  it("gives up after its last wait, with the error", async () => {
+    vi.useFakeTimers();
+    const goto = vi.fn().mockRejectedValue(noBuffer());
+    const settled = expect(gotoRetrying({ goto }, "/")).rejects.toThrow("ERR_NO_BUFFER_SPACE");
+    await vi.runAllTimersAsync();
+    await settled;
+    expect(goto).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(6);
+    vi.useRealTimers();
+  });
+
+  it("is the only way the suite loads a page", () => {
+    const dir = new URL("../../e2e/", import.meta.url);
+    const direct = readdirSync(dir)
+      .filter((f) => f.endsWith(".ts") && f !== "retryConnect.ts")
+      .filter((f) => /\.(goto|reload)\(/.test(readFileSync(new URL(f, dir), "utf-8")));
+    expect(direct).toEqual([]);
+  });
+});

frontend/src/lib/stylesheetRetry.dom.test.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,105 @@
+// @vitest-environment jsdom
+import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
+import { clear, events } from "./log";
+import { retryLostStylesheets } from "./stylesheetRetry";
+
+const LOADED = { cssRules: [{}] };
+// A lost stylesheet still has a `sheet`, and reading its rules throws (measured: Chromium, WebKit).
+const LOST = {
+  get cssRules(): never {
+    throw new DOMException("Cannot access rules", "SecurityError");
+  },
+};
+
+function link(href: string, loaded: boolean, sheet: unknown = loaded ? LOADED : LOST) {
+  const el = document.createElement("link");
+  el.rel = "stylesheet";
+  el.href = href;
+  el.setAttribute("crossorigin", "");
+  Object.defineProperty(el, "sheet", { value: sheet, configurable: true });
+  document.head.append(el);
+  return el;
+}
+
+const links = () => [...document.head.querySelectorAll<HTMLLinkElement>('link[rel="stylesheet"]')];
+const logged = () => events().map((e) => e.event);
+
+describe("retryLostStylesheets", () => {
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    vi.useFakeTimers();
+    clear();
+  });
+  afterEach(() => {
+    vi.useRealTimers();
+    document.head.innerHTML = "";
+  });
+
+  it("leaves a loaded stylesheet alone", () => {
+    const fine = link("/a.css", true);
+    retryLostStylesheets();
+    vi.runAllTimers();
+    expect(links()).toEqual([fine]);
+    expect(logged()).toEqual([]);
+  });
+
+  it("asks again for a lost one, in its place, keeping its attributes", () => {
+    const first = link("/a.css", true);
+    const lost = link("/b.css", false);
+    const last = link("/c.css", true);
+    retryLostStylesheets();
+    vi.advanceTimersByTime(0);
+    const [a, b, c] = links();
+    expect(a).toBe(first);
+    expect(b).not.toBe(lost);
+    expect(b!.getAttribute("href")).toBe("/b.css");
+    expect(b!.hasAttribute("crossorigin")).toBe(true);
+    expect(c).toBe(last);
+    expect(logged()).toEqual(["app.stylesheet_lost"]);
+  });
+
+  it.each([
+    ["no sheet at all", null],
+    ["an empty sheet", { cssRules: [] }],
+  ])("takes a link with %s for lost too", (_, sheet) => {
+    const lost = link("/a.css", false, sheet);
+    retryLostStylesheets();
+    vi.advanceTimersByTime(0);
+    expect(links()[0]).not.toBe(lost);
+  });
+
+  it("says so once the new request has loaded", () => {
+    link("/a.css", false);
+    retryLostStylesheets();
+    vi.advanceTimersByTime(0);
+    links()[0]!.dispatchEvent(new Event("load"));
+    vi.runAllTimers();
+    expect(logged()).toEqual(["app.stylesheet_lost", "app.stylesheet_recovered"]);
+  });
+
+  it("waits longer each time and then gives up, reporting it", () => {
+    link("/a.css", false);
+    retryLostStylesheets();
+    const fail = () => links()[0]!.dispatchEvent(new Event("error"));
+
+    vi.advanceTimersByTime(0);
+    const second = links()[0];
+    fail();
+    vi.advanceTimersByTime(999);
+    expect(links()[0]).toBe(second);
+    vi.advanceTimersByTime(1);
+    const third = links()[0];
+    expect(third).not.toBe(second);
+
+    fail();
+    vi.advanceTimersByTime(2999);
+    expect(links()[0]).toBe(third);
+    vi.advanceTimersByTime(1);
+    const fourth = links()[0];
+    expect(fourth).not.toBe(third);
+
+    fail();
+    vi.runAllTimers();
+    expect(links()[0]).toBe(fourth);
+    expect(logged()).toEqual(["app.stylesheet_lost", "app.stylesheet_gave_up"]);
+  });
+});

frontend/src/lib/stylesheetRetry.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+// A stylesheet can be lost on the way (a poor line, a loaded machine), and a browser never asks again
+// for one by itself: the page then stays unstyled until a reload, every control a bare browser button.
+// A module script waits for the document's stylesheets (measured: a sheet held 3 s held the module
+// too), so by the time this runs each link has either loaded or failed, and no event is left to wait
+// for. A lost one is asked for again in its own place, so the cascade's order stays as it was built.
+//
+// All of these sheets are this site's own: reading the rules of a loaded one is allowed, so a throw
+// says it failed (measured: Chromium, WebKit). Three tries, then the page stays as it is. A reload here
+// could loop, and the unstyled page still works.
+import { log } from "./log";
+
+const RETRY_AFTER_MS = [0, 1000, 3000];
+
+function holdsRules(link: HTMLLinkElement): boolean {
+  try {
+    return (link.sheet?.cssRules.length ?? 0) > 0;
+  } catch {
+    return false;
+  }
+}
+
+function askAgain(link: HTMLLinkElement, attempt: number): void {
+  const wait = RETRY_AFTER_MS[attempt];
+  if (wait === undefined) {
+    log.error("app.stylesheet_gave_up", "a stylesheet could not be loaded", { href: link.href });
+    return;
+  }
+  window.setTimeout(() => {
+    const next = link.cloneNode(false) as HTMLLinkElement;
+    next.addEventListener("load", () =>
+      log.info("app.stylesheet_recovered", "a lost stylesheet loaded on a new request", {
+        href: next.href,
+        attempt: attempt + 1,
+      }),
+    );
+    next.addEventListener("error", () => askAgain(next, attempt + 1));
+    link.replaceWith(next);
+  }, wait);
+}
+
+/** Run once, from a page's entry module. */
+export function retryLostStylesheets(): void {
+  for (const link of document.querySelectorAll<HTMLLinkElement>('link[rel="stylesheet"]')) {
+    if (holdsRules(link)) continue;
+    log.warn("app.stylesheet_lost", "a stylesheet was lost on the way; asking again", {
+      href: link.href,
+    });
+    askAgain(link, 0);
+  }
+}

frontend/src/main.tsx

@@ -17,12 +17,15 @@ import "flag-icons/css/flag-icons.min.css";
 import { lazyWithPreload } from "./lib/lazyWithPreload";
 import { installClientLog } from "./lib/logHooks";
 import { installStaleBuildReload } from "./lib/staleBuild";
+import { retryLostStylesheets } from "./lib/stylesheetRetry";
 import { appCopyOf } from "./i18n/appCopy";
 
 // First, before any render: a crash or a navigation during boot belongs in the log too.
 installClientLog(appCopyOf, typedUrlKeys());
 // A tab from before the last release reloads onto the new build instead of crashing on a lazy chunk.
 installStaleBuildReload();
+// A stylesheet lost on the way is asked for again rather than leaving the page unstyled.
+retryLostStylesheets();
 
 // Split by top-level route so each entry point is its own chunk: a legal page never downloads the
 // authenticated app bundle, and the app never carries it either. The legal pages live outside the

frontend/src/watchMain.tsx

@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import WatchPage from "./watch/WatchPage";
 import { T } from "./watch/watchStrings";
 import "./index.css";
 import { installStaleBuildReload } from "./lib/staleBuild";
+import { retryLostStylesheets } from "./lib/stylesheetRetry";
 
 // The entry of a public /watch/<token> link (watch.html). Whoever opens it got the link from a
 // friend: signed out, often on a phone, often on mobile data — so it imports the player page and
@@ -14,6 +15,8 @@ import { installStaleBuildReload } from "./lib/staleBuild";
 
 // A tab left open across a release reloads onto the new build instead of failing on a chunk.
 installStaleBuildReload();
+// A stylesheet lost on the way is asked for again rather than leaving the page unstyled.
+retryLostStylesheets();
 
 const crashCopy = () => ({ title: T.crashTitle, subtitle: T.crashHint, reload: T.reload });