fix(pull-requests): PR detail reads no longer drain the GitHub quota

[StiensWout]

Every PR refresh signal, which the server sends after each agent turn and each PR edit, made a client re-run every PR query it had touched in the last five to ten minutes. It did this whether or not a view still showed the PR. The server kept detail and activity for 15 seconds, so nearly every one of those reads went back to GitHub, and a second connected client paid again. Merged PRs were read as often as open ones. The reporter measured bursts of about 120 gh calls every few minutes and ran out of GraphQL quota three times in one afternoon.

What changed

A query now refreshes on the signal only while something reads it. A query that is only alive on its idle TTL is marked stale instead and refreshes once, the next time a view reads it. The change is in createEnvironmentQueryAtomFamily, so it also stops the PR list, list stats, stack, and linked-thread queries from re-running after you leave the Pull Requests page. Mounted readers behave as before.

The server now shares detail, activity, and preview answers for 60 seconds instead of 15. That matches the clients' own stale time, so focus refreshes and signals from several clients land on one read. Once a PR is merged or closed the answer is held for 10 minutes. The refresh button, edits made through T3 Code, and turns in the same project still skip the cache, as before. A PR that is closed and then reopened on GitHub can keep showing closed detail for up to 10 minutes, or until Refresh.

Not in this PR: the GraphQL reserve still counts a gh pr view as one point when it can cost three or more. That belongs in the budget accounting and is a separate change, so this addresses #13496 without closing it.

Proof

New runtime tests:

• A query refreshes on its trigger while mounted. Unmounted, it ignores two trigger changes and refreshes once on its next read. Against main it re-runs on both.
• A trigger that recomputes to the same value, like the usage-price trigger, does not refresh an idle query.
• When the registry sweeps an idle query node but keeps the data it read, the rebuilt node still refreshes if the trigger moved.

New service test: an open PR's detail and activity are read from the host once per minute, and a merged PR's once per ten. With the old 15 second window every re-read goes to the host. Four existing service tests moved their clock advance from 16 to 61 seconds to get past the new window.

pnpm exec vp test run apps/server/src/pullRequest/PullRequestService.test.ts packages/client-runtime/src/state/runtime.test.ts packages/client-runtime/src/state/pullRequests.test.ts packages/client-runtime/src/state/assets.test.ts packages/client-runtime/src/state/serverUsage.test.ts packages/client-runtime/src/state/server.test.ts apps/web/src/components/pullRequest/PullRequestDetailPanel.test.tsx apps/web/src/state/pullRequests.test.ts apps/server/src/orchestration/Layers/CheckpointReactor.test.ts

364 tests pass. tsc --noEmit passes for apps/server and packages/client-runtime, and targeted lint and format checks pass.

_{Prepared for Wout by claude-opus-5-5 in Claude Code, running inside T3 Code.}

[macroscopeapp]

Approvability

Verdict: Not approved

Macroscope's review found this PR not approvable — This PR changes default caching and refresh behavior in both the PR service and a shared client-runtime query abstraction, affecting existing request paths beyond the named PR detail view. It also leaves a documented settled-activity caching edge case where activity-only reads may use the shorter TTL.

No code changes detected at f3ef0f9. Prior analysis still applies.

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📝 Walkthrough

Walkthrough

Pull request detail, activity, and preview caches now use state-based TTLs. Environment query families use a trigger-aware refresh helper that handles trigger changes for mounted and idle queries.

Changes

Pull request cache TTLs

Layer / File(s)	Summary
State-based cache TTLs apps/server/src/pullRequest/PullRequestService.ts, apps/server/src/pullRequest/PullRequestService.test.ts	Successful detail, activity, and preview results use state-based TTLs: 60 seconds for open requests and 10 minutes for merged or closed requests. Tests check refresh timing and stale detail behavior after failed reads.

Runtime query refresh

Layer / File(s)	Summary
Trigger-aware query lifecycle packages/client-runtime/src/state/runtime.ts, packages/client-runtime/src/state/runtime.test.ts	The refresh helper tracks trigger values per registry and refreshes mounted queries when values change. Idle queries refresh on their next read. Tests cover unchanged trigger values and queries rebuilt after registry sweeps.

Priority: ➖ Normal

Estimated code review effort: 3 (Moderate) | ~20 minutes

Change: Bug fix

Sequence Diagram(s)

sequenceDiagram
  participant EnvironmentQueryFamily
  participant refreshOnSignalWhileRead
  participant RefreshTrigger
  participant Registry
  participant QueryAtom
  EnvironmentQueryFamily->>refreshOnSignalWhileRead: wraps query when a trigger exists
  refreshOnSignalWhileRead->>Registry: tracks trigger value per registry
  RefreshTrigger->>refreshOnSignalWhileRead: provides current trigger value
  refreshOnSignalWhileRead->>Registry: compares trigger value during query read
  refreshOnSignalWhileRead->>QueryAtom: refreshes query when the value changed

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Suggested reviewers: juliusmarminge

Merge Risk: 🔵 Low · up to f3ef0

The changes reduce unnecessary refreshes, but activity-only reads of merged or closed pull requests still refresh after one minute rather than ten. This bounded quota-efficiency gap warrants follow-up but does not block merging.

Security Architecture Review

Security architecture risk: 🔵 Low · up to f3ef0

The change reduces unnecessary reads while preserving account isolation. Risk is low, but a failed remote action can leave older pull-request state visible longer before refresh.

Retained concerns

• Low · reliability · inferred: Longer cache retention amplifies an existing incomplete recovery transition after failed non-stack provider actions. Persisted reads are invalidated, but reference epochs and refresh notifications advance only on success. If an action changes remote state before reporting failure, previously successful in-memory entries can remain visible for the longer TTL until explicit invalidation or another recovery path intervenes.

Security review details

Security Blast Radius

• inferred — The observed stale-result exposure is bounded by the project, host, repository, pull-request number, expected account, credential fingerprint, and epoch encoded in the reference key. Connected clients sharing that identity can inherit the same cached result; cross-identity sharing was not established.

Trust Boundaries and Controls

• observed — Remote actions remain operate-scoped RPCs and check provider viewer permissions before invoking the action. The changed display-cache policy does not itself grant mutation authority.

Resilience and Maintainability Implications

• observed — Failure containment is asymmetric: stack actions refresh the project even after provider failure, while non-stack actions only invalidate persisted reads on failure. Successful actions advance reference epochs and notify readers. The longer TTL makes this pre-existing asymmetry more consequential for recovery.

🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 4 | ❌ 1

❌ Failed checks (1 warning)

Check name	Status	Explanation	Resolution
Docstring Coverage	⚠️ Warning	Docstring coverage is 0.00% which is insufficient. The required threshold is 80.00%. Docstring coverage is scoped to functions touched by this diff. Analyzed 2 functions across 4 files.	Write docstrings for the functions missing them to satisfy the coverage threshold.

✅ Passed checks (4 passed)

Check name	Status	Explanation
Title check	✅ Passed	The title clearly identifies the main fix: reducing GitHub quota usage caused by pull request detail reads. It is concise and relevant, although it does not mention the broader client-side refresh beh…
Description check	✅ Passed	The description clearly explains the problem, the client and server changes, expected behavior, scope limits, and test results. It omits the formal Why, UI Changes, and Checklist headings, but it prov…
Linked Issues check	✅ Passed	Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.
Out of Scope Changes check	✅ Passed	Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.

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Actionable comments posted: 1

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Inline comments:
In `@apps/server/src/pullRequest/PullRequestService.ts`:
- Around line 2955-2956: Cold activity reads may cache merged or closed PR
activity with the default TTL because `lastGoodSummary` has not been populated.
In the activity cache loader, load `summary` for the PR reference before calling
`activityUncached`, and allow activity loading to continue if the summary lookup
fails. Add an activity-only test that reads a merged or closed PR, advances past
60 seconds, and verifies the activity provider is not called again.

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• apps/server/src/pullRequest/PullRequestService.test.ts
• apps/server/src/pullRequest/PullRequestService.ts
• packages/client-runtime/src/state/runtime.test.ts
• packages/client-runtime/src/state/runtime.ts

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[t3dotgg]

Note

🤖 Claude Opus 5.5 responding on behalf of Theo

Landed in #16280, which carries your commit unchanged on current main. The squash credits you as co-author. Thanks @StiensWout.

Two follow-ups went in with it. Only merged PRs are held for 10 minutes, since a closed PR can reopen and the PR watch reads it to find out. Checks and the new watch fingerprint keep their 15-second cache. Closing this one in favor of #16280.