Twitch servers do not not clear assets cache when testing locally

Extensions
1

Hello there,

Figured I would write about this issue on here as I’ve been having this problem since I started making extensions on Twitch but the problem never got fixed.

When testing an extension locally and hosting my assets on a private server the twitch servers keep my assets in their cache for way too long, without giving me any way to clear it manually.

If I load up my channel on my browser to test an extension that is hosted on my server, when I modify the files on my server the changes are not made on Twitch side, even after multiple refreshes of the channel web page and extension the old content still shows in the browser.

To precise, even if I clear the cache locally, on my browser, the old assets are still stored on Twitch side in their cache and the changes on my server files do not appear in the extension, this problem doesn’t occur locally, it is on Twitch servers.

This completely removes the whole point of being able to test assets “locally”, as it is faster to just re-upload my files over and over and test on “hosted” mode. This cache bug forces me to wait more than 5 minutes every time I want to make any changes on my extension and it makes this functionality completely useless.

Test it out yourself:

  1. Make an extension and host the assets “locally” on a private server (ex. www.myExtensionAssetsServer.com)
  2. Install and load up the extension on your twitch channel
  3. Modify the files on your private server (ex. change the html page or the javascript code)
  4. Refresh your Twitch channel web page (try it with CTRL+ F5 too to clear the cache if you want)

You’ll see that the web page still loads the old code (or files) of the extension and that the assets modifications you made on your server do not show at all.

2

I have not had this problem myself. And my test model somewhat matches what you describe.

If assets are locally on a private server then it’s not Twitch Caching them as a Twitch server doesn’t even exist in the chain. It really does sound like a problem in your browser here/your side, which is weird.

Make sure that you are clearing the cache for www.myExtensionAssetsServer.com not for Twitch.

1 Like
3

I have not experienced this either. I also test similarly; however, I clear my browser’s cache with Dev Tools open instead of using CTRL+F5.

It’s possible the server is ignoring the no-cache header from the CTRL+F5.

Have you tested in different browsers and also with your Dev Tools open with Disable cache checked?

1 Like
4

Thank you for the very helpful tips! I now clear the cache from another tab in my browser on the www.myExtensionAssetsServer.com page after every modification to my server code and the modifications show on the Twitch Extension in my channel!

I thought at first that I could clear the cache of the pages the Extension was getting from my server by simply clearing the cache of the Twitch channel but that was totally wrong.

Sorry for the very very late response and thank you again!