fix(nextjs): settle onBeforeSetActive when cache invalidation fails

[RaphaelFakhri]

Description

Fixes a hang in @clerk/nextjs App Router apps where setActive() and signOut() never complete when the cache invalidation server action fails.

window.__internal_onBeforeSetActive wraps invalidateCacheAction() in a promise and calls resolve only when the action succeeds. When the action rejects, the promise never settles, and clerk-js waits on it forever. A rejection happens after a redeploy, when a tab from the previous build calls a server action ID that the new server doesn't recognize (UnrecognizedActionError), and on network failures.

This change resolves the promise whether the action succeeds or fails. __internal_onAfterSetActive still calls router.refresh(), so the router state updates after navigation.

To test the change, run pnpm test in packages/nextjs. The new test in src/app-router/client/__tests__/ClerkProvider.test.tsx mocks invalidateCacheAction to reject and checks that the hook settles. The test fails without the fix.

Fixes #9987

Checklist

• pnpm test runs as expected.
• pnpm build runs as expected.
• (If applicable) JSDoc comments have been added or updated for any package exports
• (If applicable) Documentation has been updated

Type of change

• 🐛 Bug fix
• 🌟 New feature
• 🔨 Breaking change
• 📖 Refactoring / dependency upgrade / documentation
• other:

[changeset-bot]

🦋 Changeset detected

Latest commit: f6b6c3e

The changes in this PR will be included in the next version bump.

This PR includes changesets to release 2 packages

Name	Type
@clerk/nextjs	Patch
@clerk/swingset	Patch

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ℹ️ Recent review info

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• Configuration used: Repository YAML (base), Organization UI (inherited)
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📥 Commits

Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between 840b5d4 and f6b6c3e.

📒 Files selected for processing (2)

• packages/nextjs/src/app-router/client/ClerkProvider.tsx
• packages/nextjs/src/app-router/client/__tests__/ClerkProvider.test.tsx

🔗 Linked repositories identified

CodeRabbit considers these linked repositories for cross-repo context during reviews:

• clerk/clerk_go (manual)
• clerk/dashboard (manual)
• clerk/accounts (manual)
• clerk/backoffice (manual)
• clerk/clerk (manual)
• clerk/clerk-docs (manual)
• clerk/cloudflare-workers (manual)

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📝 Walkthrough

Walkthrough

When invalidateCacheAction rejects, the App Router __internal_onBeforeSetActive callback now calls router.refresh() before it resolves. When the action fulfills, the callback resolves without refreshing. Tests cover both outcomes. A patch changeset describes the fix for setActive() and signOut() hanging when cache invalidation fails.

Priority: ⬆️ High

Estimated code review effort: 2 (Simple) | ~10 minutes

Severity of issue fixed: Medium

Merge Risk: 🔵 Low · up to f6b6c

When cache invalidation fails, sign-in or sign-out may continue before the refresh completes, leaving a narrow chance of stale cached navigation. The callback now settles, but this race merits follow-up.

Security Architecture Review

Security architecture risk: 🔵 Low · up to f6b6c

The fix restores progress when cache invalidation fails, without adding privileges or a new endpoint. Its fallback starts a router refresh but does not wait for completion, leaving uncertainty about cached authenticated views during session switching or sign-out. No server-side authorization bypass was established.

Retained concerns

• Low · security · inferred: On invalidation rejection, the new fallback releases the authentication-transition barrier after invoking refresh, without establishing completed cache invalidation. Subsequent navigation could therefore reuse content or redirects cached under the previous authentication context. The existing after-transition refresh mitigates this possibility when enabled, but its effectiveness against overlapping refresh and navigation is not established. This is an inferred cache-consistency risk, not a verified authorization bypass.

Security review details

Security Blast Radius

• inferred — The identified risk is bounded to browser-side cached routes and displayed authentication context during existing session or organization transitions. The inspected change does not establish new server privileges, cross-service authority, or access to another tenant's data store.

Trust Boundaries and Controls

• observed — The rejected server action is not retried with broader authority or alternate credentials. Recovery instead invokes the existing client router. Core session-removal and token-update operations remain in place after the hook, so releasing the cache barrier does not itself bypass those operations.

Resilience and Maintainability Implications

• inferred — Recovery improves transition progress compared with the base's indefinite wait. Repeated rejected calls can each initiate a refresh, while caller-side transition serialization remains a pre-existing limitation. Whether overlapping refreshes or interrupted navigation preserve the intended cache state depends on external router behavior not established here.

🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 5

✅ Passed checks (5 passed)

Check name	Status	Explanation
Title check	✅ Passed	The title clearly and concisely describes the main change: ensuring onBeforeSetActive settles when cache invalidation fails.
Description check	✅ Passed	The description directly explains the cache invalidation failure, the resulting hang, the implemented fix, affected flows, and test coverage.
Linked Issues check	✅ Passed	Issue [#9987] requires __internal_onBeforeSetActive to settle when invalidateCacheAction() rejects. ClerkProvider.tsx now resolves in both fulfillment and rejection handlers. The rejection handl…
Out of Scope Changes check	✅ Passed	The provider change directly fixes issue [#9987]. The tests verify the required success and failure behavior. The changeset documents the @clerk/nextjs patch release. No unrelated changes appear in …
Docstring Coverage	✅ Passed	No functions found in the changed files to evaluate docstring coverage. Skipping docstring coverage check. Docstring coverage is scoped to functions touched by this diff. Analyzed 0 functions across 2…

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[coderabbitai]

Actionable comments posted: 1

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• 🪄 Fix CodeRabbit comments on this PR

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Inline comments:
Review comments at @packages/nextjs/src/app-router/client/ClerkProvider.tsx:
- Around line 59-63: Update the invalidation handling in
__internal_onBeforeSetActive so a rejected invalidateCacheAction() does not
resolve the shared callback before navigation; propagate the failure or complete
a cache-bypassing fallback before resolving.

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ℹ️ Review info

⚙️ Run configuration

• Configuration used: Repository YAML (base), Organization UI (inherited)
• Review profile: ASSERTIVE
• Plan: Advanced
• Run ID: b1a07bbb-5832-4ca0-abc6-4d658ff5e8d6

📥 Commits

Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between ae15578 and 840b5d4.

📒 Files selected for processing (3)

• .changeset/quiet-pans-settle.md
• packages/nextjs/src/app-router/client/ClerkProvider.tsx
• packages/nextjs/src/app-router/client/__tests__/ClerkProvider.test.tsx

🔗 Linked repositories identified

CodeRabbit considers these linked repositories for cross-repo context during reviews:

• clerk/clerk_go (manual)
• clerk/dashboard (manual)
• clerk/accounts (manual)
• clerk/backoffice (manual)
• clerk/clerk (manual)
• clerk/clerk-docs (manual)
• clerk/cloudflare-workers (manual)

Included review availability: This review used your included allowance. Your plan provides up to 4 included reviews per hour; 3 remain after this review.