feat: detect new web builds + hard-refresh escape hatch (0.1.17/batch78)

Root cause of "the fix works on mobile but not on desktop/web": nothing was wrong with
the code — the desktop app now CLOSES TO TRAY, so it can run for weeks on the page it
loaded on day one and never re-fetch after a deploy. There was also no way to force it
off a stale page (no menu bar → no reload accelerator).

- Server: GET /api/build returns home.html's __BUILD marker.
- Client: polls it (boot, on focus/visibility, every 10 min); when the server's build
  differs from the running one, shows a branded "A new version is available — Refresh"
  banner. Settings gains an always-available "Refresh app" with the current build shown.
- hardReloadApp(): in the browser it unregisters service workers + clears CacheStorage
  then reloads cache-busted; in the shell it calls the native hard reload.
- Desktop: hard-reload IPC (clears the session HTTP cache + reloadIgnoringCache), wired to
  Ctrl+R (reload), Ctrl+Shift+R / F5 (hard reload), and a "Refresh app (get latest)" tray
  item. Previously there was literally no way to clear the cache from the app.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>

desktop/main.js

@@ -83,6 +83,17 @@ function avatarToTempPng(src) {
   });
 }
 
+// ---- Hard refresh -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+// The app closes to TRAY, so it can run for weeks on the page it first loaded and never see a new web
+// deploy. This clears the shell's HTTP cache and reloads ignoring cache, so a stale UI is always
+// recoverable. Reachable from: the in-app "Refresh" banner / Settings, Ctrl+R (reload),
+// Ctrl+Shift+R or F5 (hard reload), and the tray menu.
+async function hardReloadWin() {
+  try { await session.fromPartition('persist:bizconnect').clearCache(); } catch (_) {}
+  try { if (win && !win.isDestroyed()) win.webContents.reloadIgnoringCache(); } catch (_) {}
+}
+ipcMain.handle('hard-reload', async () => { await hardReloadWin(); return true; });
+
 // ---- Remote control: OS input injection for a screen the local user is SHARING ----
 // The renderer (share flow) forwards a viewer's mouse/keyboard events here for injection. Injection is
 // HARD-GATED behind an explicit consent flag (rcArmed): nothing is injected until the local user clicks
@@ -207,6 +218,7 @@ function createTray() {
     const showApp = () => { if (!win) return createWindow(); if (win.isMinimized()) win.restore(); win.show(); win.focus(); };
     tray.setContextMenu(Menu.buildFromTemplate([
       { label: 'Open Biz Connect', click: showApp },
+      { label: 'Refresh app (get latest)', click: () => { showApp(); hardReloadWin(); } },
       { type: 'separator' },
       { label: 'Quit', click: () => { isQuitting = true; app.quit(); } },
     ]));
@@ -257,6 +269,19 @@ function createWindow() {
   win.once('ready-to-show', reveal);
   setTimeout(reveal, 12000);
 
+  // The menu bar is hidden, so the usual reload accelerators don't exist — wire them by hand. Without
+  // these there was literally no way to force the app off a stale page.
+  win.webContents.on('before-input-event', (e, input) => {
+    if (input.type !== 'keyDown') return;
+    const k = String(input.key || '').toLowerCase();
+    const mod = input.control || input.meta;
+    if ((mod && k === 'r') || k === 'f5') {
+      e.preventDefault();
+      if (input.shift || k === 'f5') hardReloadWin();           // hard: clear cache + reload
+      else { try { win.webContents.reload(); } catch (_) {} }   // plain reload
+    }
+  });
+
   // Close = hide to tray (keep running for notifications). First time, tell the user where it went.
   let toldTray = false;
   win.on('close', (e) => {

desktop/package.json

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "biz-connect-desktop",
-  "version": "0.1.16",
+  "version": "0.1.17",
   "description": "Biz Connect technician desktop client — loads the Connect web UI with native screen capture",
   "author": {
     "name": "BizGaze",

desktop/preload.js

@@ -34,6 +34,9 @@ contextBridge.exposeInMainWorld('bizConnectNative', Object.freeze({
   rcAvailable: () => { try { return !!ipcRenderer.sendSync('rc-available'); } catch (_) { return false; } },
   rcArm: (on) => { try { ipcRenderer.send('rc-arm', !!on); } catch (_) {} },
   rcInput: (evt) => { try { ipcRenderer.send('rc-input', evt); } catch (_) {} },
+  // Force the newest web build: clears the shell's HTTP cache and reloads ignoring cache. The app closes
+  // to tray and can run for weeks, so without this it would keep serving the page it first loaded.
+  hardReload: () => { try { return ipcRenderer.invoke('hard-reload'); } catch (_) { return Promise.resolve(false); } },
   // Manual "Check for updates" from Settings. Resolves {status:'available'|'current'|'dev'|'error', version?}.
   // On 'available' the shell downloads in the background and prompts to restart when ready.
   checkForUpdates: () => ipcRenderer.invoke('check-updates'),

server/public/home.html

@@ -1002,7 +1002,7 @@
 <body>
 <script src="/icons.js?v=6"></script>
 <script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@twemoji/api@15.1.0/dist/twemoji.min.js" crossorigin="anonymous"></script>
-<script>window.__BUILD='2026-07-14-batch77';console.log('%cBiz Connect','color:#1F3B73;font-weight:bold','build '+window.__BUILD);
+<script>window.__BUILD='2026-07-14-batch78';console.log('%cBiz Connect','color:#1F3B73;font-weight:bold','build '+window.__BUILD);
 // Render modern (Twemoji) emojis in place of the OS's flat ones. No-op if the CDN didn't load
 // (emojis stay as plain Unicode). (#5)
 function twemojify(el){ try{ if(el && window.twemoji) window.twemoji.parse(el, { folder:'svg', ext:'.svg' }); }catch(_){} }</script>
@@ -1225,10 +1225,13 @@ function openSettings(){
     +sw('setDm','Direct message notifications', notifOn('dm'))
     +'<label class="gi-setting"><span>Notifications <span class="perm-state '+perm+'">'+permLabel+'</span><div style="font-size:.72rem;color:var(--muted);font-weight:400;margin-top:.15rem">Pop up messages &amp; calls even when this tab isn’t open</div></span>'+(granted?'':'<button class="btn sm" id="setPerm">'+(perm==='denied'?'Allow':'Enable')+'</button>')+'</label>'
     +(window.bizConnectNative?('<label class="gi-setting"><span>Biz Connect for Desktop<div style="font-size:.72rem;color:var(--muted);font-weight:400;margin-top:.15rem" id="setVer">Version '+pEsc(window.bizConnectNative.version||'—')+(_pendingUpdate?('<span class="set-ver-i" title="Update available">i</span> '+(_pendingUpdate.phase==='ready'?'Update ready':'Update '+pEsc(_pendingUpdate.version||'')+' available')):'')+'</div></span><button class="btn sm'+(_pendingUpdate?' has-update':'')+'" id="setUpd">'+(_pendingUpdate?(_pendingUpdate.phase==='ready'?'Restart now':'Downloading…'):'Check for updates')+'</button></label>'):'')
+    // Always-available escape hatch: force the newest web build (clears cache / service worker).
+    +'<label class="gi-setting"><span>App version<div style="font-size:.72rem;color:var(--muted);font-weight:400;margin-top:.15rem">Build '+pEsc(window.__BUILD||'—')+(_newBuild?' <span class="set-ver-i" title="A newer build is available">i</span> update available':'')+'</div></span><button class="btn sm'+(_newBuild?' has-update':'')+'" id="setRefresh">Refresh app</button></label>'
     +'<div class="hint" style="margin-top:.4rem">These preferences are saved on this device.</div></div>';
   document.body.appendChild(ov);
   ov.onclick=e=>{ if(e.target===ov) ov.remove(); };
   ov.querySelector('#setClose').onclick=()=>ov.remove();
+  { const rb=ov.querySelector('#setRefresh'); if(rb) rb.onclick=()=>{ ov.remove(); hardReloadApp(); }; }
   const updBtn=ov.querySelector('#setUpd'); // #12: desktop version + manual update check
   if(updBtn) updBtn.onclick=async()=>{
     if(_pendingUpdate&&_pendingUpdate.phase==='ready'){ try{ window.bizConnectNative.restartToUpdate&&window.bizConnectNative.restartToUpdate(); }catch(_){} return; } // update already downloaded → restart
@@ -2775,6 +2778,38 @@ function wireUpdateBanner(){
     else if(d.phase==='current'||d.phase==='error'){ if(el){ el.classList.remove('show'); setTimeout(()=>{ if(el&&!el.classList.contains('show')) el.remove(); }, 400); } }
   });
 }
+// ---- New-web-build detection ----------------------------------------------------------------
+// The desktop app closes to TRAY, so it can stay open for weeks and keep running the page it loaded on
+// day one — a deploy would never reach it (that's why fixes "worked on mobile but not on desktop").
+// Poll the server's build marker; when it changes, offer a Refresh. Also exposed in Settings.
+let _newBuild=null;
+async function checkWebBuild(){
+  try{
+    const r=await fetch('/api/build',{cache:'no-store'}); if(!r.ok) return;
+    const d=await r.json();
+    if(d && d.build && window.__BUILD && d.build!==window.__BUILD && d.build!==_newBuild){ _newBuild=d.build; showRefreshBanner(); }
+  }catch(_){}
+}
+function showRefreshBanner(){
+  if(document.getElementById('refreshBanner')) return;
+  const el=document.createElement('div'); el.id='refreshBanner'; el.className='upd-banner show ready';
+  el.innerHTML=ic('download',15)+' <span>A new version of Biz Connect is available</span> <button id="rbGo">Refresh</button>';
+  document.body.appendChild(el);
+  el.querySelector('#rbGo').onclick=()=>hardReloadApp();
+}
+// Hard refresh: on desktop this clears the shell's HTTP cache and reloads ignoring cache. In a browser we
+// also drop any service-worker + CacheStorage entries, then reload — so there's no stale-code dead end.
+async function hardReloadApp(){
+  if(meetState==='call' && !(await bzConfirm('You are in a call. Refreshing will leave it.', {title:'Refresh now?', okText:'Refresh'}))) return;
+  try{ const n=window.bizConnectNative; if(n && n.hardReload){ n.hardReload(); return; } }catch(_){}
+  try{ if('serviceWorker' in navigator){ const rs=await navigator.serviceWorker.getRegistrations(); await Promise.all(rs.map(r=>r.unregister().catch(()=>{}))); } }catch(_){}
+  try{ if(window.caches && caches.keys){ const ks=await caches.keys(); await Promise.all(ks.map(k=>caches.delete(k).catch(()=>{}))); } }catch(_){}
+  try{ location.replace(location.pathname+'?_r='+Date.now()); }catch(_){ location.reload(); }
+}
+setInterval(checkWebBuild, 10*60*1000);                 // every 10 min
+window.addEventListener('focus', checkWebBuild);        // and whenever the user comes back to the app
+document.addEventListener('visibilitychange', ()=>{ if(!document.hidden) checkWebBuild(); });
+setTimeout(checkWebBuild, 4000);                        // shortly after boot
 // Small 'i' badge on the profile button when an update is pending; clicking opens Settings.
 function applyUpdateBadge(){
   document.querySelectorAll('.upd-dot').forEach(x=>x.remove());

server/routes.js

@@ -917,6 +917,17 @@ route('GET', '/api/meetings/config', (req, res) => {
   json(res, 200, { sfu: LIVEKIT_ENABLED, url: LIVEKIT_ENABLED ? LIVEKIT_URL : '' });
 });
 
+// The web build currently on the server (home.html's __BUILD marker). Long-running clients poll this and
+// offer a Refresh when it changes. This matters because the desktop app now CLOSES TO TRAY — it can run
+// for weeks without ever reloading the page, so it would silently keep serving stale code after a deploy.
+let APP_BUILD = '';
+try {
+  const h = fs.readFileSync(path.join(require('./config').PUBLIC_DIR, 'home.html'), 'utf8');
+  const m = /__BUILD='([^']+)'/.exec(h);
+  if (m) APP_BUILD = m[1];
+} catch (_) {}
+route('GET', '/api/build', (req, res) => json(res, 200, { build: APP_BUILD }));
+
 // Mint a LiveKit join token for the signed-in user + a specific room (the 6-digit meeting code).
 // The room-membership/host authorization already happens over the meeting WebSocket; this only
 // hands the client a media-plane credential scoped to that room and its own identity.