Reloading a page doesn't trigger Stimulus disconnect()

[joemasilotti]

Reloading a page, either via pull-to-refresh or by calling navigator.reload(), does not trigger disconnect() on any connected Stimulus controllers.

To reproduce, apply the following diff to the demo app server:

diff --git a/public/javascript/controllers/menu_controller.js b/public/javascript/controllers/menu_controller.js
index 11520b3..e59c8a5 100644
--- a/public/javascript/controllers/menu_controller.js
+++ b/public/javascript/controllers/menu_controller.js
@@ -3,6 +3,16 @@ import { Controller } from "@hotwired/stimulus"
 export default class extends Controller {
   static targets = [ "dialog", "item", "result" ]

+  connect() {
+    super.connect()
+    alert("connect")
+  }
+
+  disconnect() {
+    super.disconnect()
+    alert("disconnect")
+  }
+
   show() {
     this.dialogTarget.style.display = "block"
   }

When you tap "Menu example" you'll see an alert with "connect". When you tap the back button you'll see "disconnect". But if you tap "Menu example" then pull-to-refresh, you only receive "connect" again. You never receive "disconnect".

This can cause issues if a page adds a native bar button item only for signed in users. If the user signs out and the page is reloaded, there's no hook to remove the button because disconnect() is never called.

[joemasilotti]

Turns out refreshing a page in a web view won't call disconnect() either. So this isn't actually a Hotwire Native issue. But I'm curious as to why this occurs.