Fix garbage collection issue with Infinity setting (#1135)

KyleAMathews · claude · web-flow · commit f9b741e9fb63 · 2026-01-20T09:43:00.000-07:00
* fix(db): handle gcTime Infinity to prevent immediate garbage collection

When gcTime was set to Infinity, setTimeout(fn, Infinity) would coerce
Infinity to 0 via JavaScript's ToInt32 conversion, causing immediate
garbage collection instead of disabling it.

This fix treats Infinity (and any non-finite values) the same as 0,
effectively disabling automatic garbage collection when the user intends
for data to never be collected.

Fixes issue where collections in Electron apps would unexpectedly lose
data when navigating back and forth with gcTime set to Infinity.

* chore: add changeset for gcTime Infinity fix

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.5 &lt;noreply@anthropic.com&gt;

* Handle negative gcTime values in GC timer

Negative gcTime values like -1000 would pass through to setTimeout,
which browsers treat as 0 (immediate execution). Now gcTime &lt;= 0
disables GC, matching the intent of invalid timeout values.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.5 &lt;noreply@anthropic.com&gt;

---------

Co-authored-by: Claude &lt;noreply@anthropic.com&gt;
diff --git a/.changeset/fix-gc-infinity.md b/.changeset/fix-gc-infinity.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@tanstack/db': patch
+---
+
+Fix `gcTime: Infinity` causing immediate garbage collection instead of disabling GC. JavaScript's `setTimeout` coerces `Infinity` to `0` via ToInt32, so we now explicitly check for non-finite values.
diff --git a/packages/db/src/collection/lifecycle.ts b/packages/db/src/collection/lifecycle.ts
@@ -180,8 +180,10 @@ export class CollectionLifecycleManager<
 
     const gcTime = this.config.gcTime ?? 300000 // 5 minutes default
 
-    // If gcTime is 0, GC is disabled
-    if (gcTime === 0) {
+    // If gcTime is 0, negative, or non-finite (Infinity, -Infinity, NaN), GC is disabled.
+    // Note: setTimeout with Infinity coerces to 0 via ToInt32, causing immediate GC,
+    // so we must explicitly check for non-finite values here.
+    if (gcTime <= 0 || !Number.isFinite(gcTime)) {
       return
     }
 
diff --git a/packages/db/tests/collection-lifecycle.test.ts b/packages/db/tests/collection-lifecycle.test.ts
@@ -360,6 +360,26 @@ describe(`Collection Lifecycle Management`, () => {
       expect(mockSetTimeout).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
       expect(collection.status).not.toBe(`cleaned-up`)
     })
+
+    it(`should disable GC when gcTime is Infinity`, () => {
+      const collection = createCollection<{ id: string; name: string }>({
+        id: `infinity-gc-test`,
+        getKey: (item) => item.id,
+        gcTime: Infinity, // Disabled GC via Infinity
+        sync: {
+          sync: () => {},
+        },
+      })
+
+      const subscription = collection.subscribeChanges(() => {})
+      subscription.unsubscribe()
+
+      // Should not start any timer when gcTime is Infinity
+      // Note: Without this fix, setTimeout(fn, Infinity) would coerce to 0,
+      // causing immediate GC instead of never collecting
+      expect(mockSetTimeout).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+      expect(collection.status).not.toBe(`cleaned-up`)
+    })
   })
 
   describe(`Manual Preload and Cleanup`, () => {

-Original file line number
+Diff line change
@@ @@ -0,0 +1,5 @@ @@
 +---
 +'@tanstack/db': patch
 +---
++
 +Fix `gcTime: Infinity` causing immediate garbage collection instead of disabling GC. JavaScript's `setTimeout` coerces `Infinity` to `0` via ToInt32, so we now explicitly check for non-finite values.