Assistant: codex Assistant-Model: gpt-6-astra Assistant-Session: 01a0cffe-206f-7323-89d3-b20ca4cf4bf9
80 lines
4.6 KiB
Markdown
80 lines
4.6 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: URL-addressable State
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status: draft
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maturity: hypothesis
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families: [address, projection]
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scales: [L3]
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admission: research-candidate-only
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---
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# URL-addressable State
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Context: readers need to share, bookmark and revisit a resource or selected view.
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Problem: an address change can conceal state that only exists in the current tab.
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Addressability competes with private/transient state and URL/schema stability.
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Proposed solution: encode the public, stable resource identity and relevant view
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selection in path/query parameters, or in a fragment when a declared client runtime
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reconstructs the view. Define validation, defaults and the required resolution path
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so direct entry and reload reconstruct that selection under current authorization.
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A client-fragment contract does not imply no-script availability. A URL identifies a view, not necessarily immutable bytes or guaranteed
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future availability. Use an explicit version if a stable historical snapshot matters.
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Do not place secrets, private draft content, focus or every transient interaction
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in the address. An identifier confers no authorization. Server-visible query/path
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state and fragment-only state have different resolution contracts. If history is
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enhanced, back/forward, cache misses and direct loads must resolve coherently;
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pushState success alone is insufficient.
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Consequences: views become independently reachable, but parameter compatibility,
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invalid/deleted resources and full-versus-fragment cache behavior need contracts.
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Alternatives: ephemeral in-tab selection when sharing is unnecessary; authenticated
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saved-view identifiers when the selection is too large or private for the URL.
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Evidence: [navigation review](../reviews/NavigationRenderingEvidence.md) N01/N02/N06
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locates documentation mechanisms, not verified deployments of this whole proposal.
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Full-pattern known uses and recurrence remain unknown. Refines the existing URL as
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Application State seed; no canonical identity or admitted relations.
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Proposed connection: [Progressive Enhancement](ProgressiveEnhancement.md) can preserve
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native navigation while adding faster transitions; it is optional, not required by
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addressability. [VC-03](../walkthroughs/VC03-ContentPublication.md) is a synthetic trace.
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## Prospective runtime corroboration — 2026-09-27
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Direct filtered entry, reload, snapshot restoration and explicit history-miss recovery
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preserve selection in a pinned htmx fixture. Omitting representation Vary reproduces
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a fragment served as a full document in Chromium and Firefox; correct selection
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keeps representations distinct, without promising cache retention or freshness.
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See [NH01–NH06](../reviews/NavigationHistoryExperiment.md). One authored application
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with a real package, not independent deployed recurrence. Hypothesis retained.
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## Competing completion ownership — 2026-09-27
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[NO01–NO06](../reviews/NavigationOwnershipExperiment.md) show a delayed history response
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replacing content/title while a newer URL remains selected in the unguarded fixture.
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Treat navigation initiation, including Back/Forward, as intent with an explicit
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completion owner. Before applying an asynchronous result, check that it still owns
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the selected route; include URL, content, title and feedback in that decision.
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A response to obsolete intent is not made current by arriving last or succeeding.
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The experiment's latest-intent policy keeps the last committed view and newest error
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when a newer request fails; it does not revive older pending navigation implicitly.
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Other policies require an explicit contract. Browser history can change the URL before
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loading completes: pending-state disclosure/recovery is still unresolved here.
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The authored guard supports this obligation only in the tested schedules, not a
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portable router or proof of independent application recurrence.
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## Independent application source contrast — 2026-09-27
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[Zulip ZN01–ZN08](../reviews/ZulipNavigationSourceStudy.md) locates pinned hash-to-view
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reconstruction, separate history pointer/offset state, and current-list guards on
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main fetch continuations. It supplies static partial application evidence; no direct
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load or Back race was executed in Zulip. Auxiliary lookup/anchor paths and deferred
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focus remain unverified.
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Applicability belongs to each effect: noncurrent results can still populate cached
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data without acquiring the right to change current selection. Object/list identity
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and a navigation generation are different implementation policies; neither alone
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proves freshness. Keep addressability separate from no-script enhancement and from
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within-session focus/scroll restoration. Full-contract recurrence remains unassessed.
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