A random thought: I don't know that we're going to get great data from other vendors, rather than web developers directly.
Thomas, Patrick: any chance we can use the various browser devrel bat signals to ask developers if they'd like/hate this addition? Best, Alex On Thursday, February 26, 2026 at 10:16:19 PM UTC-8 Philip Jägenstedt wrote: > For a small addition to an existing API, developer signals are often not > as easy to come by, in particular it's not going to come up in surveys and > https://github.com/web-platform-dx/developer-signals doesn't track at > this granularity. > > You can look for the discussion that occurred when the spec change was > made. These issues and PRs seem relevant: > https://github.com/w3c/ServiceWorker/issues/1167 > https://github.com/whatwg/fetch/pull/685 > https://github.com/whatwg/fetch/issues/1280 > > "Developers want to simply know if a navigation was due to reload or > back/forward" makes sense, but do you know what developers have been doing > to work around this all these years? > > I think the main risk is that this has been sitting idle in the spec for > so long and nobody has given it any thought recently. Letting the standards > positions sit for a week or two to get some reactions would be good. > > On Fri, Feb 27, 2026 at 6:02 AM Helmut Januschka <[email protected]> > wrote: > >> asking for standard positions: >> https://github.com/mozilla/standards-positions/issues/1360 >> https://github.com/WebKit/standards-positions/issues/620 >> >> not sure how to get "developer signal" >> >> >> [email protected] schrieb am Dienstag, 17. Februar 2026 um 20:08:25 >> UTC+1: >> >>> On 2/14/26 5:48 p.m., Helmut Januschka wrote: >>> >>> hello olli, >>> sorry, messed up the entry, fixed it >>> >>> Looking at the chromestatus entry - it now shows "No Signal" for both. >>> Can we request Signals? >>> >>> >>> Am Sa., 14. Feb. 2026 um 22:56 Uhr schrieb Smaug <[email protected]>: >>> >>>> >>>> *> Gecko*: Shipped/Shipping >>>> >>>> *> WebKit*: Shipped/Shipping >>>> >>>> Is that correct given the following. >>>> Gecko: >>>> >>>> https://searchfox.org/firefox-main/rev/c3797cdebac1316dd7168e995e3468c5a597e8d1/dom/webidl/Request.webidl#17 >>>> >>>> Webkit: >>>> >>>> https://searchfox.org/wubkat/rev/db628492e5f463663cc3c393dfdd3a641f23d8f8/Source/WebCore/Modules/fetch/FetchRequest.idl#36-37,54 >>>> >>>> and >>>> https://wpt.fyi/results/service-workers/service-worker/fetch-event.https.html?label=experimental&label=master&aligned >>>> >>>> -Olli >>>> On Saturday, February 14, 2026 at 11:33:29 PM UTC+2 [email protected] >>>> wrote: >>>> >>>>> *Contact emails* >>>>> [email protected] >>>>> >>>>> *Specification* >>>>> https://fetch.spec.whatwg.org/#dom-request-isreloadnavigation >>>>> >>>>> *Summary* >>>>> Adds the read-only boolean attribute isReloadNavigation to the Fetch >>>>> API's Request interface. This attribute indicates whether the current >>>>> navigation request was initiated as a user-triggered reload (e.g., using >>>>> the refresh button, location.reload(), or history.go(0)). This signal is >>>>> primarily exposed on the Request object within a Service Worker's >>>>> FetchEvent. >>>>> https://chromium-review.googlesource.com/c/chromium/src/+/7137783 >>>>> >>>>> *Blink component* >>>>> Blink>Network >>>>> <https://issues.chromium.org/issues?q=customfield1222907:%22Blink%3ENetwork%22> >>>>> >>>>> *Web Feature ID* >>>>> network-information >>>>> <https://webstatus.dev/features/network-information> >>>>> >>>>> *Motivation* >>>>> Web developers, particularly those implementing Service Worker caching >>>>> logic, currently lack a reliable, standardized way to distinguish between >>>>> a >>>>> regular navigation (forward/back) and a user-initiated reload. This >>>>> capability is crucial for implementing sophisticated and efficient >>>>> caching >>>>> strategies, such as bypassing the cache or enforcing a Network-First >>>>> strategy specifically during a reload to ensure the user gets the >>>>> freshest >>>>> content. This attribute standardizes the mechanism required by the Fetch >>>>> spec. >>>>> >>>>> *Initial public proposal* >>>>> *No information provided* >>>>> >>>>> *TAG review* >>>>> *No information provided* >>>>> >>>>> *TAG review status* >>>>> Not applicable >>>>> >>>>> *Risks* >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> *Interoperability and Compatibility* >>>>> Low Risk: The feature is additive. It introduces a new, read-only >>>>> property to the existing Request interface, meaning it does not change >>>>> the >>>>> behavior or signature of any existing methods or properties. Existing web >>>>> content that does not reference isReloadNavigation will continue to >>>>> function exactly as before. >>>>> >>>>> *Gecko*: Shipped/Shipping >>>>> >>>>> *WebKit*: Shipped/Shipping >>>>> >>>>> *Web developers*: Strongly positive >>>>> >>>>> *Other signals*: >>>>> >>>>> *WebView application risks* >>>>> >>>>> Does this intent deprecate or change behavior of existing APIs, such >>>>> that it has potentially high risk for Android WebView-based applications? >>>>> *No information provided* >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> *Debuggability* >>>>> *No information provided* >>>>> >>>>> *Will this feature be supported on all six Blink platforms (Windows, >>>>> Mac, Linux, ChromeOS, Android, and Android WebView)?* >>>>> No >>>>> >>>> Where will it be supported? >>> >>> >>>>> *Is this feature fully tested by web-platform-tests >>>>> <https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromium/src/+/main/docs/testing/web_platform_tests.md>?* >>>>> No >>>>> >>>> There seems to be some test coverage. What's missing? >>> >>> >>>>> >>>>> *DevTrial instructions* >>>>> https://chromium-review.googlesource.com/c/chromium/src/+/7137783 >>>>> >>>>> *Flag name on about://flags* >>>>> *No information provided* >>>>> >>>>> *Finch feature name* >>>>> RequestIsReloadNavigation >>>>> >>>>> *Rollout plan* >>>>> Will ship enabled for all users >>>>> >>>>> *Requires code in //chrome?* >>>>> False >>>>> >>>>> *Tracking bug* >>>>> https://issues.chromium.org/issues/40487194 >>>>> >>>>> *Estimated milestones* >>>>> Shipping on desktop 146 >>>>> Shipping on Android 146 >>>>> Shipping on WebView 146 >>>>> Shipping on iOS 146 >>>>> >>>>> *Anticipated spec changes* >>>>> >>>>> Open questions about a feature may be a source of future web compat or >>>>> interop issues. Please list open issues (e.g. links to known github >>>>> issues >>>>> in the project for the feature specification) whose resolution may >>>>> introduce web compat/interop risk (e.g., changing to naming or structure >>>>> of >>>>> the API in a non-backward-compatible way). >>>>> *No information provided* >>>>> >>>>> *Link to entry on the Chrome Platform Status* >>>>> https://chromestatus.com/feature/5154214529597440?gate=6489806081228800 >>>>> >>>>> This intent message was generated by Chrome Platform Status >>>>> <https://chromestatus.com/>. >>>>> >>>> -- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>> Groups "blink-dev" group. >>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>> an email to [email protected]. >>> To view this discussion visit >>> https://groups.google.com/a/chromium.org/d/msgid/blink-dev/CAFmjHKSe3X8b_JA_n6r%3DddFXU7dkEmxLbKGqDshc3K-KaYtLRw%40mail.gmail.com >>> >>> <https://groups.google.com/a/chromium.org/d/msgid/blink-dev/CAFmjHKSe3X8b_JA_n6r%3DddFXU7dkEmxLbKGqDshc3K-KaYtLRw%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >>> . >>> >>> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "blink-dev" group. >> > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected]. >> To view this discussion visit >> https://groups.google.com/a/chromium.org/d/msgid/blink-dev/4a305b81-ce9b-4748-b813-a12dd57c11bdn%40chromium.org >> >> <https://groups.google.com/a/chromium.org/d/msgid/blink-dev/4a305b81-ce9b-4748-b813-a12dd57c11bdn%40chromium.org?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >> . >> > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "blink-dev" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/a/chromium.org/d/msgid/blink-dev/ce566ba9-41bc-4023-8fab-ae1abc1bd587n%40chromium.org.
