fix(ui): clear session search on boot + autocomplete=off + pageshow bfcache handler (closes #822)

* fix(ui): clear session search on boot + autocomplete=off — prevents bfcache from restoring stale filter (closes #822)

* fix(ui): add pageshow handler for true bfcache restore case (#822 completion)

The original PR's two fixes cover fresh page loads and hard reloads —
but the bug the issue describes happens on *bfcache restore* (Chrome's
back-forward cache).  The async boot IIFE does NOT re-run when the
browser restores a page from bfcache; the DOM is restored in place,
including any stale #sessionSearch value.  The boot-time clear has no
effect there.

`autocomplete="off"` is a hint that Chrome and others sometimes honour
for bfcache but is not reliable for user-typed values (as opposed to
autofill candidates).

Add a pageshow event listener that checks event.persisted === true and,
on that path only, clears #sessionSearch and re-renders from cache.
Fresh loads skip the listener (persisted=false) and continue to be
handled by the boot IIFE.

Also added tests/test_session_search_bfcache_822.py with 7 tests:
- autocomplete="off" present on the input
- boot-time clear runs before the first renderSessionList
- pageshow listener registered
- handler guards on event.persisted
- handler clears the search field and triggers a re-render

Full suite: 1745 passed, 0 failures.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

---------

Co-authored-by: nesquena-hermes <nesquena-hermes@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-authored-by: Nathan Esquenazi <nesquena@gmail.com>
Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -1,5 +1,14 @@
 # Hermes Web UI -- Changelog
 
+## [v0.50.141] — 2026-04-22
+
+### Fixed
+- **Session list appears empty after browser reload / version update** — Chrome's
+  bfcache was restoring a prior search query into `#sessionSearch` on page restore,
+  causing `renderSessionListFromCache()` to silently filter out all sessions (including
+  newly created ones). Added `autocomplete="off"` to the search input and an explicit
+  value-clear at boot before the first render. Closes #822. (#829)
+
 ## [v0.50.140] — 2026-04-22
 
 ### Fixed

static/boot.js

@@ -829,6 +829,11 @@ function applyBotName(){
   _initResizePanels();
   // Workspace panel restore happens AFTER loadSession so we know if
   // the session has a workspace — prevents the snap-open-then-closed flash (#576).
+  // Fix #822: clear any browser-restored value before first render. This
+  // covers fresh page loads and reloads. The bfcache restore case is handled
+  // separately below by a `pageshow` listener — the async IIFE here does NOT
+  // re-run when the browser restores the page from bfcache.
+  const _srch = document.getElementById('sessionSearch'); if (_srch) _srch.value = '';
   const saved=localStorage.getItem('hermes-webui-session');
   if(saved){
     try{
@@ -851,3 +856,18 @@ function applyBotName(){
   // Start real-time gateway session sync if setting is enabled
   if(typeof startGatewaySSE==='function') startGatewaySSE();
 })();
+
+// Fix #822 (bfcache path): when the browser restores the page from the
+// back-forward cache, the async boot IIFE above does NOT re-run, but the
+// DOM — including any stale value in #sessionSearch — IS restored.  A
+// prior search string would silently hide all sessions via the filter in
+// renderSessionListFromCache().  Clear the field and re-render whenever
+// the page is restored from cache (`event.persisted === true`).
+window.addEventListener('pageshow', (event) => {
+  if (!event.persisted) return;  // fresh loads are handled by the IIFE above
+  const _srch = document.getElementById('sessionSearch');
+  if (_srch) _srch.value = '';
+  if (typeof renderSessionListFromCache === 'function') {
+    try { renderSessionListFromCache(); } catch (_) {}
+  }
+});

static/index.html

@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@
           <span data-i18n="new_conversation">New conversation</span> <span style="font-size:10px;opacity:.5;margin-left:4px">Cmd+K</span>
         </button>
       </div>
-      <div class="session-search"><input id="sessionSearch" placeholder="Filter conversations..." data-i18n-placeholder="filter_conversations" oninput="filterSessions()"></div>
+      <div class="session-search"><input id="sessionSearch" placeholder="Filter conversations..." data-i18n-placeholder="filter_conversations" oninput="filterSessions()" autocomplete="off"></div>
       <div class="session-list" id="sessionList"></div>
     </div>
     <!-- Tasks (cron) panel -->

tests/test_session_search_bfcache_822.py

@@ -0,0 +1,137 @@
+"""Tests for #822 — session list empty after browser reload / version update.
+
+Root cause (from Opus analysis): Chrome's bfcache restores a prior search query
+into `#sessionSearch` on page restore; `renderSessionListFromCache()` reads that
+field and applies it as a title filter — hiding every session.
+
+Fix:
+- ``autocomplete="off"`` on the input hints to browsers not to restore the value
+- Boot-time explicit `sessionSearch.value = ''` before the first render covers
+  fresh loads and hard reloads
+- ``pageshow`` listener that checks ``event.persisted`` covers the true bfcache
+  restore case (where the async boot IIFE does NOT re-run)
+"""
+import pathlib
+import re
+
+REPO = pathlib.Path(__file__).parent.parent
+
+
+def read(rel):
+    return (REPO / rel).read_text(encoding='utf-8')
+
+
+class TestSessionSearchAutocompleteAttribute:
+    """index.html must opt the session search input out of browser autocomplete/restore."""
+
+    def test_session_search_has_autocomplete_off(self):
+        src = read('static/index.html')
+        m = re.search(r'<input[^>]*id="sessionSearch"[^>]*>', src)
+        assert m, "#sessionSearch input tag not found in index.html"
+        tag = m.group(0)
+        assert 'autocomplete="off"' in tag or "autocomplete='off'" in tag, (
+            "#sessionSearch must have autocomplete=\"off\" so browsers do not "
+            "restore a prior search query across reloads or bfcache restores (#822)"
+        )
+
+
+class TestBootClearsSessionSearch:
+    """Boot sequence must clear any browser-restored search value before
+    the first render, so the initial `renderSessionListFromCache` call sees
+    an empty filter and shows all sessions."""
+
+    def test_boot_clears_session_search_value_before_first_render(self):
+        src = read('static/boot.js')
+        # Must find a line that sets sessionSearch.value = '' at boot
+        assert re.search(
+            r"getElementById\(['\"]sessionSearch['\"]\)\s*;\s*if\s*\([^)]+\)\s*[^=]+\.value\s*=\s*['\"]{2}"
+            r"|sessionSearch[^=]+\.value\s*=\s*['\"]{2}",
+            src,
+        ), (
+            "boot.js must clear #sessionSearch.value to '' before the first render "
+            "(before renderSessionList / loadSession) to avoid stale filter from "
+            "browser form restoration (#822)"
+        )
+
+    def test_boot_clear_is_before_first_render_call(self):
+        """The clear must precede the first renderSessionList call path so the
+        initial render shows an unfiltered list."""
+        src = read('static/boot.js')
+        clear_pos = None
+        m = re.search(r"getElementById\(['\"]sessionSearch['\"]\)", src)
+        if m:
+            clear_pos = m.start()
+        assert clear_pos is not None, "session search clear not found in boot.js"
+        first_render_pos = src.find('renderSessionList()', clear_pos)
+        assert first_render_pos != -1, "renderSessionList() call not found after clear"
+        assert clear_pos < first_render_pos, (
+            "sessionSearch clear must appear before the first renderSessionList() call"
+        )
+
+
+class TestPageShowBfcacheHandler:
+    """bfcache restore path: the async boot IIFE does NOT re-run when the
+    browser restores the page from back-forward cache, but the DOM — including
+    any stale value in #sessionSearch — IS restored. A `pageshow` listener
+    with `event.persisted` check is the only reliable way to clear on bfcache."""
+
+    def test_pageshow_listener_registered(self):
+        src = read('static/boot.js')
+        assert re.search(
+            r"addEventListener\(\s*['\"]pageshow['\"]",
+            src,
+        ), (
+            "boot.js must register a `pageshow` event listener to handle "
+            "bfcache-restored page views (#822)"
+        )
+
+    def test_pageshow_handler_checks_event_persisted(self):
+        """Only bfcache restores set event.persisted=true; fresh loads have
+        it false and are already handled by the boot IIFE. Guarding prevents
+        clearing the search on every page show (which would wipe an in-progress
+        user filter if any other pageshow triggers happen)."""
+        src = read('static/boot.js')
+        m = re.search(
+            r"addEventListener\(\s*['\"]pageshow['\"].*?\}\s*\)",
+            src,
+            re.DOTALL,
+        )
+        assert m, "pageshow listener body not found"
+        body = m.group(0)
+        assert 'persisted' in body, (
+            "pageshow handler must guard on event.persisted so fresh loads "
+            "don't double-clear the field"
+        )
+
+    def test_pageshow_handler_clears_session_search(self):
+        src = read('static/boot.js')
+        m = re.search(
+            r"addEventListener\(\s*['\"]pageshow['\"].*?\}\s*\)",
+            src,
+            re.DOTALL,
+        )
+        assert m
+        body = m.group(0)
+        assert 'sessionSearch' in body, (
+            "pageshow handler must target #sessionSearch specifically"
+        )
+        assert re.search(r"\.value\s*=\s*['\"]{2}", body), (
+            "pageshow handler must set sessionSearch.value = ''"
+        )
+
+    def test_pageshow_handler_triggers_rerender(self):
+        """After clearing on bfcache restore, the cached DOM still shows the
+        filtered view. Re-rendering from cache with the now-empty filter
+        repopulates the list."""
+        src = read('static/boot.js')
+        m = re.search(
+            r"addEventListener\(\s*['\"]pageshow['\"].*?\}\s*\)",
+            src,
+            re.DOTALL,
+        )
+        assert m
+        body = m.group(0)
+        assert 'renderSessionListFromCache' in body or 'renderSessionList' in body, (
+            "pageshow handler must re-render the list after clearing the filter "
+            "so the stale filtered DOM is replaced with the full list"
+        )