Network requests fired before plugin initialization are not captured

[manish2612]

Describe the bug

When using @rozenite/network-activity-plugin in a React Native 0.78.2 project, the plugin successfully displays network requests in the React Native DevTools once it is initialized. However, any network requests that are fired before the plugin is initialized (e.g. during the initial render of the root component or from global singletons that execute at module load) are not captured in the Network Activity panel.

This means that the very first screen’s API calls are consistently missing from the logs, even though later requests show up as expected.

Expected Behavior

All network requests — including those fired during the initial render phase or before React mounts the root component — should be intercepted and displayed in the Network Activity panel.

Actual Behavior

Requests made before plugin initialization are silently missed.

Only requests after initialization are visible in DevTools.

System Info

React Native: 0.78.2

@rozenite/network-activity-plugin: latest

DevTools: new RN DevTools (not Flipper)

Platform: iOS

Rozenite Version

1.0.0-alpha.11

Reproduction

NA

Steps to reproduce

Add @rozenite/network-activity-plugin via Metro config (withRozenite).

Initialize the plugin using useNetworkActivityDevTools() at the very top of the root component (before rendering anything else).

Trigger a network request (e.g. via fetch or axios) immediately in the first screen’s useEffect.

Observe that this initial request does not appear in the Network Activity panel.

Any subsequent requests (triggered after initialization) do appear correctly.

[V3RON]

Hey @manish2612 👋
There is a noticeable delay between the app starting and the DevTools session being established. By design, the plugin stays dormant as long as no connection is present, in order to avoid putting unnecessary pressure on the CPU and memory. The downside of this approach is essentially what you described.

The built-in React Profiler mitigates this issue with its "restart and profile" functionality, which instructs React Native to restart and start profiling regardless of whether a debugging session is active. Technically, the Network Activity plugin could adopt the same approach, but the problem is that there is no built-in API for persisting data between full reloads. I also don't want to force users to install additional native packages just to use Rozenite.

I do have an idea for making this behavior completely optional, and I'll investigate it this week. However, with React Universe Conf approaching, my capacity is limited, so I can't promise it will be ready by Sunday.

[github-actions]

This issue has been marked as stale because it has been inactive for 30 days. Please update this issue or it will be automatically closed in 14 days.

[github-actions]

This issue has been marked as stale because it has been inactive for 30 days. Please update this issue or it will be automatically closed in 14 days.

[dprevost-LMI]

If no one has started anything, I could —we need this, too!