fix(webapp): cap how long an empty customer card is cached, add release note

Omitting timeToLiveSeconds on a no-data card falls back to the TTL configured for
that card in Plain, so a customer who becomes resolvable — an external id gets
set, or someone signs up with that address — would keep showing an empty card for
however long that default is. Set explicitly to 60s.

An external id that no longer resolves is now logged. The email match keeps the
card useful, but a stale link we wrote ourselves should not stay invisible.

Author: isshaddad

.server-changes/plain-customer-card-external-id.md

@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+---
+area: webapp
+type: fix
+---
+
+Fixed support threads showing no account details for some customers, so the team can see your plan, organizations and projects when you get in touch.

apps/webapp/app/routes/api.v1.plain.customer-cards.ts

@@ -129,6 +129,14 @@ export async function action({ request }: ActionFunctionArgs) {
       byExternalId ??
       (email ? await prisma.user.findFirst({ where: { email }, include: userInclude }) : null);
 
+    // An external id we set ourselves that no longer resolves is an anomaly worth seeing, even
+    // though the email match keeps the card useful — otherwise the stale link stays invisible.
+    if (customer.externalId && !byExternalId) {
+      logger.warn("Plain customer card external id did not resolve", {
+        resolvedByEmail: !!user,
+      });
+    }
+
     /**
      * Impersonation is offered only when the customer matched on `externalId` — a value we set
      * ourselves from `User.id`.

apps/webapp/app/utils/plainCustomerCards.test.ts

@@ -81,8 +81,8 @@ describe("normalizeEmail", () => {
 describe("answerAllCardKeys", () => {
   it("adds a no-data card for every unanswered key", () => {
     expect(answerAllCardKeys(["a", "b"], [])).toEqual([
-      { key: "a", components: null },
-      { key: "b", components: null },
+      { key: "a", components: null, timeToLiveSeconds: 60 },
+      { key: "b", components: null, timeToLiveSeconds: 60 },
     ]);
   });
 
@@ -97,11 +97,19 @@ describe("answerAllCardKeys", () => {
 
     expect(answerAllCardKeys(["a", "b", "c"], [answered])).toEqual([
       answered,
-      { key: "a", components: null },
-      { key: "c", components: null },
+      { key: "a", components: null, timeToLiveSeconds: 60 },
+      { key: "c", components: null, timeToLiveSeconds: 60 },
     ]);
   });
 
+  // Omitting the TTL would fall back to the card's configured default, keeping an empty card in
+  // Plain's cache after the customer becomes resolvable.
+  it("caps how long an empty card is cached", () => {
+    const [filler] = answerAllCardKeys(["a"], []);
+
+    expect(filler).toMatchObject({ timeToLiveSeconds: 60 });
+  });
+
   it("ignores extra cards that were not requested", () => {
     const extra = { key: "unrequested", components: [] };
 

apps/webapp/app/utils/plainCustomerCards.ts

@@ -44,7 +44,17 @@ export function normalizeEmail(email: string | null | undefined): string | null
   return email?.toLowerCase().trim() || null;
 }
 
-type NoDataCard = { key: string; components: null };
+type NoDataCard = { key: string; components: null; timeToLiveSeconds: number };
+
+/**
+ * How long Plain may cache a card we had no data for.
+ *
+ * Explicit rather than omitted: omitting the field falls back to the TTL configured for that card
+ * in Plain's settings, so a customer who becomes resolvable — an external id gets set, or someone
+ * signs up with that address — would keep showing an empty card for however long that default is.
+ * Short enough to recover promptly, long enough not to re-ask on every glance at a thread.
+ */
+const NO_DATA_TTL_SECONDS = 60;
 
 /**
  * Fills in a `components: null` card for every requested key that wasn't answered.
@@ -67,6 +77,7 @@ export function answerAllCardKeys<TCard extends { key: string }>(
         (key): NoDataCard => ({
           key,
           components: null,
+          timeToLiveSeconds: NO_DATA_TTL_SECONDS,
         })
       ),
   ];