Page is sent with Cache-Control: no-cache (closes #141)

nginx sent index.html with no Cache-Control, so a browser could keep
it after a deploy and ask for hashed assets the new build no longer
has, and show an empty page. location / now adds Cache-Control:
no-cache, which covers its try_files fallback to /index.html, and
includes security-headers.conf again, since its own add_header drops
the server's. /assets/ and the paths passed to the backend are
unchanged.

script/frontend-viewport-test fails unless / and a path that falls
back to the page carry Cache-Control: no-cache and
Content-Security-Policy, which comes from the same file as the other
security headers.

Model: opus-5-5

README.md

@@ -86,7 +86,9 @@ either one is broken. We provide:
 - `script/frontend-fmt-check` — check prettier formatting (read-only)
 - `script/frontend-viewport-test` — responsive-layout verification of the built
   frontend in a containerised headless Chrome (see
-  [test/viewport/README.md](test/viewport/README.md)). Not part of
+  [test/viewport/README.md](test/viewport/README.md)). Before the browser
+  starts, it checks that the page, and a path that falls back to it, are served
+  with `Cache-Control: no-cache` and `Content-Security-Policy`. Not part of
   `script/check`: it takes minutes.
 - `script/docker` — build the image from `Dockerfile` without the build cache,
   tagged `netwatch` via `script/projectname`
@@ -475,7 +477,10 @@ address nginx passes on and no other. The image:
   each entry with `netwatch-server check-cidr`, which parses it as the backend
   parses its own `TRUSTED_PROXIES`
 - Sends access logs to stdout
-- Caches static assets with immutable headers
+- Sends the page with `Cache-Control: no-cache`, so a browser that keeps a copy
+  checks with the server that it is current before using it again; only the
+  files under `/assets/`, whose names change whenever their contents do, are
+  cached as immutable
 - Sends the security headers `REPO_POLICIES.md` requires on every response, as
   `configs/security-headers.conf` sets them, in place of the backend's own
 - Stores reports in `DATA_DIR`, `/data/reports` by default, on the `/data`

TODO.md

@@ -21,6 +21,18 @@ Run `make frontend-viewport-test` in CI as its own step; it is not part of
 
 # Completed Steps
 
+- 2026-10-18: the image's nginx sends the page with `Cache-Control: no-cache`
+  ([#141](https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/netwatch/issues/141)), so a browser that
+  keeps a copy checks with the server that it is current before using it again.
+  The page went out with no `Cache-Control`, so a browser could keep it after a
+  deploy and ask for files under `/assets/` that the new build no longer has,
+  and show an empty page. A path that `location /` answers with the page through
+  its `try_files` fallback gets the same header. `location /` now includes the
+  security headers again, as `/assets/` does, since its own `add_header` drops
+  the server's. `/assets/` keeps its immutable caching.
+  `make frontend-viewport-test` fails unless `/` and a path that falls back to
+  the page carry `Cache-Control: no-cache` and `Content-Security-Policy`, which
+  comes from the same file as the other security headers
 - 2026-10-18: `README.md` says what the page loses while reports are refused or
   the page is paused ([#145](https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/netwatch/issues/145)),
   how fast one address can replace the stored reports

configs/nginx.conf

@@ -30,8 +30,13 @@ server {
     access_log /dev/stdout combined;
     error_log  /dev/stderr warn;
 
+    # With no-cache, a browser never uses a copy of the page that names
+    # assets a newer build no longer has without first checking with the
+    # server that it is current.
     location / {
         try_files $uri $uri/ /index.html;
+        add_header Cache-Control no-cache;
+        include /etc/nginx/security-headers.conf;
     }
 
     # Cache static assets aggressively

script/frontend-viewport-test

@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@
 # headless Chrome at it over CDP, and asserts on computed layout at every
 # viewport width derived from the app's own CSS. See
 # test/viewport/README.md for what this covers and what it cannot.
+# Before the browser starts, it checks that the page is served with
+# Cache-Control: no-cache and Content-Security-Policy.
 #
 # Deliberately not part of script/check: it needs Docker and takes far
 # longer than the 20s budget make test has to stay inside.
@@ -75,6 +77,32 @@ main() {
         -v "$ROOT/configs/security-headers.conf:/etc/nginx/security-headers.conf:ro" \
         "$SERVER_IMAGE" > /dev/null
 
+    # The page, and /no-such-page, which location / answers with the
+    # page through its try_files fallback, must go out with
+    # Cache-Control: no-cache. That add_header in its location drops the
+    # server's own unless the location includes the security headers
+    # again; only Content-Security-Policy is checked, as it comes from
+    # the same file as the rest. curl tries up to ten more times, a
+    # second apart, while nginx starts. It runs without -S, which would
+    # print an error for every failed attempt, even when a later one
+    # succeeds.
+    for path in / /no-such-page; do
+        if ! headers="$(docker exec "$SERVER" curl -s -o /dev/null -D - \
+            --retry 10 --retry-connrefused --retry-delay 1 \
+            "http://127.0.0.1:8080$path")"; then
+            echo "frontend-viewport-test: nginx did not answer $path" >&2
+            exit 1
+        fi
+        headers="$(printf '%s\n' "$headers" | tr -d '\r')"
+        if ! printf '%s\n' "$headers" | grep -qix 'Cache-Control: no-cache' ||
+            ! printf '%s\n' "$headers" | grep -qi '^Content-Security-Policy:'; then
+            echo "frontend-viewport-test: $path needs" \
+                "Cache-Control: no-cache and Content-Security-Policy; got:" >&2
+            printf '%s\n' "$headers" >&2
+            exit 1
+        fi
+    done
+
     # The image's own entrypoint already exposes CDP on 9222 and passes
     # --no-sandbox, so only extra flags belong here; re-specifying the
     # debugging port collides with it and leaves the endpoint bound to