lobsters/lobsters

Inbox count is inconsistent

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#1,140 opened on Nov 9, 2022

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buggood first issue

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Description

For the last few months, the red indicator next to Inbox has been inconsistent. Often:

  • When loading lobste.rs for the first time, it is not there.
  • When clicking on a story, it will show a value.
  • When clicking on the inbox, it will then show a different number of unread messages (sometimes zero).

In addition, read messages periodically pop back up in the unread list.

Contributor guide

Research direction
Investigate the logic that updates the unread notifications count in both the backend (e.g., after reading a message) and frontend (JavaScript). Look for race conditions or caching issues in the database query that counts unread inbox messages.
Tech stack
rubyjavascript
Domain
frontendbackend
Issue type
Bug
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
2
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
1-3 hours
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
Active
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
Mostly clear
Prerequisites
RubyRuby on Rails
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
60