perf(desktop): stop the Projects fan refetching on re-entry and running after leave (#6458)

Entering Projects fires a large fan: an exhaustive paginated relay
enumeration (projects/repos/tombstones), five 2,000-event work-item
queries plus assignment-operation scans, per-repo activity summaries,
and a local-repository filesystem scan. Measured on a large community
(101 issues / 258 PRs):

| query | measured cost |
|---|---|
| work-items (5 × 2,000-event REQs + assignment scans) | 3.5–3.9s |
| activity summaries | 4.1s |
| repository activity | 1.0–2.2s |
| local repository scan | 1.7s |

Two lifecycle bugs made the fan far more expensive than it needs to be:

- **Freshness windows guaranteed a full refetch on nearly every
re-entry** (60s enumeration, 30s work-items/activity, 10s local scan) —
i.e., the costs above were re-paid on almost every visit. Every local
write path already invalidates its keys explicitly (issue/PR mutations,
project creation, repo sync), so the short windows only served
remote-actor freshness. Raised to 5m/2m/2m with a 30m enumeration cache:
re-entries now paint from cache, and the fan re-runs at most every 2–5
minutes.
- **Leaving Projects left the whole fan running**, competing with the
next surface's channel fetches on the same relay connection. AbortSignal
is now threaded through the enumeration and assignment pagination loops
(optional params — behavior identical without a signal), and leaving the
surface cancels the work-items query. Deliberately NOT cancelled: the
enumeration (the always-mounted sidebar projects section observes it and
its 30m cache is valuable), repo snapshots and local scans (native work
that can't abort — cancelling would discard the finished result and
force the same clones again), and activity summaries (a single bounded
request).

Abort behavior is covered by red-first unit tests on both pagination
loops. Remaining follow-up (out of scope): the queries themselves want a
relay-side aggregate instead of shipping thousands of events to compute
counts client-side.

---------

Signed-off-by: Max Lampert <maxwell@squareup.com>

desktop/src/features/projects/assignmentOperationFetch.test.mjs

@@ -285,3 +285,38 @@ test("a failed assignment query surfaces as a failed section instead of silent l
 
   assert.ok(result.issues.failedSections.includes("assignments"));
 });
+
+test("fetchAssignmentOperationEvents stops paginating once its signal aborts", async () => {
+  // A permanently-full page would paginate forever without the cursor; abort
+  // after the first page and require the loop to stop with AbortError.
+  const controller = new AbortController();
+  let fetches = 0;
+  const fullPage = (until) =>
+    Array.from({ length: 500 }, (_, index) => ({
+      id: `${until ?? "head"}-${index}`.padEnd(64, "0"),
+      kind: 1,
+      pubkey: "a".repeat(64),
+      created_at: 1_000_000 - fetches * 1_000 - index,
+      content: JSON.stringify({ type: "assign" }),
+      tags: [],
+    }));
+  const fetchEvents = async (filter) => {
+    fetches += 1;
+    // Bound the fake: without the abort support the loop would paginate
+    // forever (each page has a fresh cursor) and OOM the test run.
+    if (fetches > 3) throw new Error("kept paginating after abort");
+    const page = fullPage(filter.until);
+    controller.abort();
+    return page;
+  };
+
+  await assert.rejects(
+    fetchAssignmentOperationEvents(
+      ["issue".padEnd(64, "1")],
+      fetchEvents,
+      controller.signal,
+    ),
+    (error) => error.name === "AbortError",
+  );
+  assert.equal(fetches, 1);
+});

desktop/src/features/projects/assignmentOperationFetch.ts

@@ -68,6 +68,7 @@ export async function fetchAssignmentOperationEvents(
   fetchEvents: (
     filter: FetchEventsInput,
   ) => Promise<RelayEvent[]> = relayClient.fetchEvents.bind(relayClient),
+  signal?: AbortSignal,
 ): Promise<RelayEvent[]> {
   if (issueIds.length === 0) return [];
   const chunks: string[][] = [];
@@ -75,7 +76,9 @@ export async function fetchAssignmentOperationEvents(
     chunks.push(issueIds.slice(i, i + ISSUE_ID_CHUNK_SIZE));
   }
   const pages = await Promise.all(
-    chunks.map((chunk) => fetchIssueCommentsExhaustively(chunk, fetchEvents)),
+    chunks.map((chunk) =>
+      fetchIssueCommentsExhaustively(chunk, fetchEvents, signal),
+    ),
   );
   const seen = new Map<string, RelayEvent>();
   for (const page of pages) {
@@ -91,11 +94,15 @@ export async function fetchAssignmentOperationEvents(
 async function fetchIssueCommentsExhaustively(
   issueIds: string[],
   fetchEvents: (filter: FetchEventsInput) => Promise<RelayEvent[]>,
+  signal?: AbortSignal,
 ): Promise<RelayEvent[]> {
   const seen = new Map<string, RelayEvent>();
   let limit = ASSIGNMENT_PAGE_LIMIT;
   let until: number | undefined;
   for (;;) {
+    // Leaving the Projects surface cancels its queries; stop queuing pages
+    // behind the next surface's fetches.
+    signal?.throwIfAborted();
     const page = await fetchEvents({
       kinds: [KIND_TEXT_NOTE],
       "#e": issueIds,

desktop/src/features/projects/hooks.ts

@@ -168,13 +168,18 @@ export function eventToProject(
 }
 
 export async function fetchProjects(
-  fetchExhaustively: FetchProjectEventsExhaustively = fetchProjectEventsExhaustively,
+  fetchExhaustively?: FetchProjectEventsExhaustively,
+  signal?: AbortSignal,
 ): Promise<Project[]> {
   // Delegates to `buildProjectsFromFetcher` in `projectEnumeration.ts`, which
   // is the pure, Tauri-free core of this operation. That helper's javadoc
   // explains the fail-closed tombstone contract and the NIP-OA owner-deletion
   // relay-side-suppression decision.
-  return buildProjectsFromFetcher(fetchExhaustively, {
+  const fetcher: FetchProjectEventsExhaustively =
+    fetchExhaustively ??
+    ((kinds, extraFilter) =>
+      fetchProjectEventsExhaustively(kinds, extraFilter, undefined, signal));
+  return buildProjectsFromFetcher(fetcher, {
     relayOrigin: getCachedRelayOrigin(),
     hiddenAddresses: new Set(readHiddenProjectCards()),
   });
@@ -637,22 +642,44 @@ async function deleteProject(project: Project): Promise<void> {
 
 export const projectsQueryKey = ["projects"] as const;
 
+/**
+ * Freshness windows for the Projects surface. Every local write path
+ * invalidates its keys explicitly (issue/PR mutations, project creation,
+ * repo sync), so short windows bought nothing for own-actions and charged a
+ * full relay fan-out — project enumeration is an exhaustive paginated scan,
+ * work items are five 2,000-event queries — on nearly every Projects
+ * re-entry. Remote actors' changes surface within the window. gcTime keeps
+ * the enumeration cached across visits so re-entering Projects paints from
+ * cache instead of blocking on the scan.
+ */
+export const PROJECTS_STALE_TIME_MS = 5 * 60_000;
+// Window-guarded like react-query's own server default (Infinity): an
+// explicit finite gcTime schedules a real, non-unref'd timeout per cache
+// entry, which keeps node test processes alive for the full 30 minutes.
+export const PROJECTS_GC_TIME_MS =
+  typeof window === "undefined" ? Number.POSITIVE_INFINITY : 30 * 60_000;
+export const PROJECT_WORK_ITEMS_STALE_TIME_MS = 2 * 60_000;
+export const PROJECT_ACTIVITY_STALE_TIME_MS = 2 * 60_000;
+export const PROJECT_LOCAL_REPOS_STALE_TIME_MS = 2 * 60_000;
+
 export function useProjectsQuery() {
   return useQuery({
     queryKey: projectsQueryKey,
-    queryFn: () => fetchProjects(),
+    queryFn: ({ signal }) => fetchProjects(undefined, signal),
-    staleTime: 60_000,
+    staleTime: PROJECTS_STALE_TIME_MS,
+    gcTime: PROJECTS_GC_TIME_MS,
   });
 }
 
 export function useProjectQuery(projectId: string) {
   return useQuery({
     queryKey: projectsQueryKey,
-    queryFn: () => fetchProjects(),
+    queryFn: ({ signal }) => fetchProjects(undefined, signal),
     select: (projects) =>
       projects.find((project) => projectMatchesRouteId(project, projectId)) ??
       null,
-    staleTime: 60_000,
+    staleTime: PROJECTS_STALE_TIME_MS,
+    gcTime: PROJECTS_GC_TIME_MS,
   });
 }
 
@@ -793,7 +820,8 @@ export function useProjectLocalRepositoriesQuery(reposDir?: string | null) {
   return useQuery({
     queryKey: ["projects", "local-repositories", reposDir ?? "default"],
     queryFn: () => listProjectLocalRepositories({ reposDir }),
-    staleTime: 10_000,
+    // Filesystem scan; repo sync/clone flows invalidate this key on change.
+    staleTime: PROJECT_LOCAL_REPOS_STALE_TIME_MS,
     retry: 1,
   });
 }
@@ -828,9 +856,22 @@ export function useProjectPullRequestsQuery(
 export function useProjectsWorkItemsQuery(projects: Project[]) {
   return useQuery({
     enabled: projects.length > 0,
-    queryKey: ["projects", "work-items", projects.map((project) => project.id)],
+    queryKey: [
-    queryFn: () => fetchProjectsWorkItems(projects),
+      "projects",
-    staleTime: 30_000,
+      "work-items",
+      projects.map((project) => project.id),
+      // Repo attach/detach changes the fan-out inputs without changing
+      // project ids; keying on addresses too prevents a pre-attach result
+      // from serving as fresh for the whole staleTime window.
+      projects
+        .flatMap((project) =>
+          project.repositories.map((repository) => repository.repoAddress),
+        )
+        .sort(),
+    ],
+    queryFn: ({ signal }) =>
+      fetchProjectsWorkItems(projects, undefined, signal),
+    staleTime: PROJECT_WORK_ITEMS_STALE_TIME_MS,
   });
 }
 
@@ -935,7 +976,7 @@ export function useProjectActivitySummariesQuery(projects: Project[]) {
     enabled: repoAddresses.length > 0,
     queryKey: ["projects", "activity-summaries", repoAddresses],
     queryFn: () => fetchProjectActivitySummaries(projects),
-    staleTime: 30_000,
+    staleTime: PROJECT_ACTIVITY_STALE_TIME_MS,
   });
 }
 

desktop/src/features/projects/projectEnumeration.test.mjs

@@ -245,3 +245,31 @@ test("buildProjectsFromFetcher still suppresses deleted heads via the scoped fet
   const projects = await buildProjectsFromFetcher(fetchExhaustively);
   assert.deepEqual(projects, [], "deleted repo must not surface as a project");
 });
+
+test("enumerateProjectEvents stops paginating once its signal aborts", async () => {
+  // 3 full pages of 2 → without an abort the enumeration would fetch all of
+  // them plus boundary drains. Abort after the first page: the loop must
+  // throw before requesting another page.
+  const events = [
+    relayEvent("a", 1_000),
+    relayEvent("b", 900),
+    relayEvent("c", 800),
+    relayEvent("d", 700),
+    relayEvent("e", 600),
+    relayEvent("f", 500),
+  ];
+  const controller = new AbortController();
+  let pageFetches = 0;
+  const fetchPage = async (filter) => {
+    pageFetches += 1;
+    const page = await fetcherFor(events)(filter);
+    controller.abort();
+    return page;
+  };
+
+  await assert.rejects(
+    enumerateProjectEvents(fetchPage, [30617], 2, undefined, controller.signal),
+    (error) => error.name === "AbortError",
+  );
+  assert.equal(pageFetches, 1);
+});

desktop/src/features/projects/projectEnumeration.ts

@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ export async function enumerateProjectEvents(
   kinds: number[],
   pageSize: number,
   extraFilter?: ProjectEventExtraFilter,
+  signal?: AbortSignal,
 ): Promise<RelayEvent[]> {
   if (!Number.isSafeInteger(pageSize) || pageSize <= 0) {
     throw new Error(
@@ -55,6 +56,10 @@ export async function enumerateProjectEvents(
   let until: number | undefined;
 
   for (;;) {
+    // Each relay REQ is bounded, but this loop is not: leaving the Projects
+    // surface cancels its queries, and the abort must stop the enumeration
+    // from queuing further pages behind the next surface's fetches.
+    signal?.throwIfAborted();
     const page = await fetchPage({
       ...extraFilter,
       kinds,
@@ -65,6 +70,7 @@ export async function enumerateProjectEvents(
     if (page.length < pageSize) return [...eventsById.values()];
 
     const oldest = Math.min(...page.map((event) => event.created_at));
+    signal?.throwIfAborted();
     const boundary = await fetchPage({
       ...extraFilter,
       kinds,
@@ -94,12 +100,14 @@ export function fetchProjectEventsExhaustively(
   kinds: number[],
   extraFilter?: ProjectEventExtraFilter,
   pageSize = PROJECT_ENUMERATION_PAGE_SIZE,
+  signal?: AbortSignal,
 ): Promise<RelayEvent[]> {
   return enumerateProjectEvents(
     (filter) => relayClient.fetchEvents(filter),
     kinds,
     pageSize,
     extraFilter,
+    signal,
   );
 }
 

desktop/src/features/projects/projectWorkItems.ts

@@ -82,6 +82,7 @@ export async function fetchProjectsWorkItems<TProject extends ProjectReference>(
   fetchEvents: (
     filter: FetchEventsInput,
   ) => Promise<RelayEvent[]> = relayClient.fetchEvents.bind(relayClient),
+  signal?: AbortSignal,
 ): Promise<ProjectsWorkItemsResult<TProject>> {
   const repoAddresses = [
     ...new Set(
@@ -129,10 +130,17 @@ export async function fetchProjectsWorkItems<TProject extends ProjectReference>(
             .filter((event) => event.kind === KIND_GIT_ISSUE)
             .map((event) => event.id),
           fetchEvents,
+          signal,
         ),
       ),
     ]);
 
+  // The five eager queries above are single bounded REQs the relay client
+  // cannot abort mid-flight; only the assignment pagination is abort-aware.
+  // What cancellation CAN save here is the reduce work below and caching a
+  // result for a surface the user already left.
+  signal?.throwIfAborted();
+
   if (rootResult.status === "rejected") {
     throw rootResult.reason instanceof Error
       ? rootResult.reason

desktop/src/features/projects/repositoryActivityHooks.ts

@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import * as React from "react";
 
 import {
   fetchRepositoryActivitySummaries,
+  PROJECT_ACTIVITY_STALE_TIME_MS,
   type Project,
 } from "@/features/projects/hooks";
 
@@ -27,6 +28,6 @@ export function useRepositoryActivitySummariesQuery(projects: Project[]) {
     enabled: repoAddresses.length > 0,
     queryKey: ["projects", "activity-summaries", "repositories", repoAddresses],
     queryFn: () => fetchRepositoryActivitySummaries(repositories),
-    staleTime: 30_000,
+    staleTime: PROJECT_ACTIVITY_STALE_TIME_MS,
   });
 }

desktop/src/features/projects/ui/ProjectsScreen.tsx

@@ -1,6 +1,30 @@
+import { useQueryClient } from "@tanstack/react-query";
+import * as React from "react";
+
 import { ProjectsView } from "@/features/projects/ui/ProjectsView";
 
 export function ProjectsScreen() {
+  const queryClient = useQueryClient();
+  React.useEffect(() => {
+    return () => {
+      // Leaving the surface: stop the work-items fan. Its assignment-operation
+      // pagination is abort-aware and unbounded, so cancellation genuinely
+      // stops relay work that would otherwise compete with the next surface's
+      // channel fetches. Cached data stays; the next visit refetches per
+      // staleTime.
+      //
+      // Deliberately NOT cancelled:
+      // - projects enumeration: the always-mounted sidebar projects section
+      //   observes this key, so it must keep filling its 30-minute cache.
+      // - repo snapshots / local repositories: native clone/scan work cannot
+      //   be aborted mid-flight; cancellation would only discard the finished
+      //   result and force the same clones again on the next visit.
+      // - activity summaries: a single bounded request — it completes either
+      //   way, so cancelling just wastes the response.
+      void queryClient.cancelQueries({ queryKey: ["projects", "work-items"] });
+    };
+  }, [queryClient]);
+
   return (
     <div className="relative flex min-h-0 min-w-0 flex-1 flex-col overflow-hidden">
       <ProjectsView />

desktop/src/shared/api/relayQueryInvalidation.test.mjs

@@ -63,6 +63,9 @@ test("relay invalidation separates relay project queries from local repo work",
     ["project", "project-1", "pull-requests"],
     ["projects", "issues", ["project-1"]],
     ["projects", "activity-summaries", ["addr-1"]],
+    // Work items fan out over the relay and are fresh for two minutes;
+    // reconnect auto-heal must be able to repair a partial result.
+    ["projects", "work-items", ["project-1"], ["addr-1"]],
   ]) {
     assert.equal(isRelayDependentQueryKey(queryKey), true, queryKey.join("/"));
   }

desktop/src/shared/api/relayQueryInvalidation.ts

@@ -39,6 +39,10 @@ const RELAY_PROJECT_QUERY_PARTS = new Set<string>([
   "activity-summaries",
   "issues",
   "pull-requests",
+  // Fresh for two minutes (PROJECT_WORK_ITEMS_STALE_TIME_MS) and tolerant of
+  // partial fan-out failure — reconnect auto-heal is what repairs a partial
+  // result inside that window.
+  "work-items",
 ]);
 
 const LOCAL_PROJECT_QUERY_PARTS = new Set<string>([