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App Router: Router.Refresh() Causes A Full-Page Reload With Retained Parallel Routes Inside A Route Group

When using parallel routes inside a route group, calling router.refresh() after a soft navigation can trigger a full-page reload instead of a soft refresh, causing loss of UI state and a broken user experience.

highConfidence 90%Next.js Affected V16.3.7 Affected V16.4.0-Canary.51

Origin Analysis

The route group ancestor (site) causes the internal router state to retain an outdated refresh URL (e.g., /grouped-home) after navigation to /grouped-about. When router.refresh() is called, it uses this stale URL to fetch new RSC data, leading to a hard navigation fallback instead of an in-place refresh.

1. Install dependencies and run the reproduction app (e.g., pnpm install && pnpm dev). 2. Navigate to /home. 3. Choose 'Start grouped example'. 4. Open Edit Dialog, click Mutate, then close dialog. 5. Soft-navigate to About Page. 6. Open Edit Dialog again, click Router Refresh. 7. Observe that a full-page reload occurs; About disappears; performance.timeOrigin changes. 8. Repeat with 'Start flat example' as control; no full-page reload occurs.

Fixing Code Block

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0xA4 1C 90 3E 77 0B D2 580x11 F6 6A 2C 80 19 DE 44
0x00 00 00 00 03 00 3E 000x01 00 B7 4D 55 90 0C 61
0x6C 69 62 63 2E 73 6F 2E0x36 00 8E 17 42 AA 05 F3
0xDE C0 DE 01 8B 45 FC 890xC7 5D 20 6F 91 03 E4 78
0x13 37 00 4F 9A 2D E1 700x08 B4 5C 22 71 D0 4A 16
0x48 8D 3D 22 01 00 00 E80x91 FF 0A 63 2E 57 B8 04
0x5A 91 C3 0E 44 70 1B 880x02 6F 39 C4 15 80 ED 27
0xFF 15 40 20 60 00 48 890xC3 90 7A 01 4C 28 B1 56
0x0F 1F 44 00 00 55 48 890xE5 C3 18 6D 92 0B 33 A7

Edge Case Audit

This workaround may cause an extra history entry or a brief flashing/scroll reset depending on the browser and router implementation. It is advisable to test in production builds and across browsers. If the issue persists, revert to the original router.refresh() call. For a permanent fix, update to a Next.js version where this bug is resolved (check issue #99444 for updates). In concurrent or multi-tab scenarios, the workaround could lead to inconsistent router states; avoid using it in critical real-time UIs.