Unregister a service worker when another tab is controlled by it can "resurrect" it (Chrome)

[signorpipo]

Repro steps:

• open 2 tabs controlled by the same service worker
• with the inspector opened, unregister the service worker (or do that in the console if u prefer)
• the service worker is now flagged as deleted
• if u just reload 1 of the tab, the reloaded tab will not be controlled, but the service worker is not flagged as deleted anymore
  • note that it's not like a new service worker is installed, the "id" displayed in the inspector is the same
  • this is why I say it's resurrected

This of course makes it hard to properly unregister a service worker unless u reload all the clients.
This is what I'm doing, but I wonder if this bug can still happen if a client reload with a bit of delay, leading to the old service worker resurrection.

[antonkorotkov]

Repro steps:

• open 2 tabs controlled by the same service worker

• with the inspector opened, unregister the service worker (or do that in the console if u prefer)

• the service worker is now flagged as deleted

• if u just reload 1 of the tab, the reloaded tab will not be controlled, but the service worker is not flagged as deleted anymore

  • note that it's not like a new service worker is installed, the "id" displayed in the inspector is the same
  • this is why I say it's resurrected

This of course makes it hard to properly unregister a service worker unless u reload all the clients. This is what I'm doing, but I wonder if this bug can still happen if a client reload with a bit of delay, leading to the old service worker resurrection.

Hi! If that helps you I've found a way to refresh the SW in all open tabs after it is deregistered.
You send a message command to the service-worker to self-destroy, and the service-worker in turn reloads all controlled clients.

// service-worker code
self.addEventListener('message', ({ data }) => {
	if (data === 'unregister') {
		self.registration.unregister()
			.then(() => self.clients.matchAll())
			.then(clients => clients.forEach(client => client.navigate(client.url)));
	}
});

// client code
navigator.serviceWorker.ready.then((registration) => {
     registration.active.postMessage('unregister');
});

[signorpipo]

Hey, it’s been a while, but what I mention at the end is that maybe this can still resurrect the very same sw which is reloading all clients, even if probably unlikely