Once property cannot be refreshed after mutation or on redirect responses

[mathieutu]

PHP package version

2.0.21

Inertia adapter(s) affected (if any)

• React
• Vue 3
• Svelte
• Not Applicable

Backend stack

laravel 12.53.0
PHP 8.5

Describe the problem

When using Inertia::once() in shared data (via HandleInertiaRequests::share()), two related problems arise that make it impossible to refresh a "once" prop after state changes.

Context

Inertia::once() is useful for sharing data that only needs to be sent once — for example, the authenticated user after login:

// HandleInertiaRequests.php
public function share(Request $request): array
{
    return [
        ...parent::share($request),
        'auth' => Inertia::once(fn () => ...)),
    ];
}

This works perfectly on the initial page load. However, both problems below make it impossible to re-deliver this prop after state changes (e.g. login, logout, profile update).

Problem : No API to invalidate or re-trigger a "once" prop

There is currently no way to tell Inertia "this once prop needs to be sent again on the next response". Once it has been sent, it is gone — even if the underlying data has changed.

This is a significant limitation for shared props that represent mutable state. If a user logs in, logs out, or updates their profile, the once prop reflecting that state becomes stale with no built-in mechanism to refresh it.

There is no equivalent of:

Inertia::refresh('auth'); // This does not exist yet

The only current workaround is to drop once entirely and use a regular shared prop, which sends the data on every request — defeating the entire purpose of once.

Problem 2: "Once" props are silently lost after a redirect when the destination component differs

When a controller mutates state and returns a redirect, once props defined in share() are never delivered to the client — and since there is no invalidation API (see Problem 1), there is no way to force them to be re-sent on the next request either.

The only mechanism doesn't work in that case, because of the way\Inertia\Response::isPartial() is done:

// vendor/inertiajs/inertia-laravel/src/Response.php:762
public function isPartial(Request $request): bool
{
    return $request->header(Header::PARTIAL_COMPONENT) === $this->component;
}

When the frontend makes a partial visit (e.g. with only: ['auth']) and the server responds with a redirect to a different component, isPartial() returns false on the follow-up request because X-Inertia-Partial-Component no longer matches the destination component. The full props are resolved — but once props have already been evaluated on the previous request and are not re-evaluated.

Concrete example: The Login form page makes a partial visit to authenticate, passing only: ['auth']. The server logs the user in and redirects to / (a Dashboard component). On the follow-up request, isPartial() returns false (correct — it's a different component), but the user once-prop is never included the request is not considered partial.

// LoginController.php
public function store(Request $request): RedirectResponse
{
    // ... authenticate user ...
    auth()->guard('web')->login($user);
    $request->session()->regenerate();

    return redirect()->intended('/'); // ← user once-prop never reaches the client
}

The frontend never receives the updated auth prop after login, leaving components that depend on it stale.

Expected behavior

1. There should be an explicit API to invalidate/re-trigger a once prop, so that after a state mutation a controller can signal that the prop must be re-sent on the next response:

Inertia::refresh('auth');

2. once props should survive redirect boundaries — if a once prop could not be delivered because the response was a redirect (or because the destination component differed from the requesting component), it should be included in the response to the redirect's destination.

Thanks!

Steps to reproduce

1. Define a once shared prop in HandleInertiaRequests::share():

'auth' => Inertia::once(fn () => str_rand()),

2. On a login page, make a partial visit using only: ['auth'] (e.g. via a <Link> component with :only="['auth']").

3. The server authenticates the user and returns a redirect to a different page (e.g. Dashboard).

4. Inertia follows the redirect and makes a full, non-partial request to the destination page.

Expected: auth is included in the response since it's a full request and the prop hasn't been delivered yet.

Actual: auth is absent — the once closure was already evaluated and is not re-evaluated on the follow-up request.

---

1. Define the same once shared prop.
2. Log the user in via any standard (non-partial) request.
3. Try to force auth to be re-sent on the next response from a controller — there is no API to do so.
4. The only workaround is removing once, causing the prop to be sent on every request.

[mathieutu]

I made this PR to introduce the refresh method.