fix: report an unconfirmed save without claiming it failed

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -72,6 +72,8 @@
   was switched off.
 * Fixed saving, activating or deactivating a snippet reporting its previous state, which could leave a deactivated
   snippet running under file-based execution.
+* Fixed the snippet editor reporting a save as failed and undelivered when no response was received, which it cannot
+  determine.
 
 ## [3.10.2] (2026-09-01)
 

src/js/hooks/useSubmitSnippet.tsx

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import { __ } from '@wordpress/i18n'
 import { isAxiosError } from 'axios'
 import React, { useCallback } from 'react'
-import { describeRequestError } from '../utils/errors'
+import { describeRequestError, isUnconfirmedRequest } from '../utils/errors'
 import { useSnippetForm } from '../components/EditMenu/SnippetForm/WithSnippetFormContext'
 import { createSnippetObject, isCondition } from '../utils/snippets/snippets'
 import { buildUrl } from '../utils/urls'
@@ -25,6 +25,36 @@ const snippetMessages = {
 const conditionCreated = __('Condition <strong>created</strong>.', 'code-snippets')
 const conditionUpdated = __('Condition <strong>updated</strong>.', 'code-snippets')
 
+/** A save that did not produce a snippet, and whether its outcome is actually known. */
+interface SubmitFailure {
+	message?: string
+	unconfirmed: boolean
+}
+
+const isSubmitFailure = (result: Snippet | SubmitFailure): result is SubmitFailure =>
+	'unconfirmed' in result
+
+interface SubmitFailureNotice {
+	failure: SubmitFailure
+	messages: typeof snippetMessages
+	isUpdate: boolean
+}
+
+/**
+ * Word a save that did not return a snippet.
+ *
+ * A request that never received a response says nothing about whether the write
+ * happened, so it is reported on its own rather than behind a heading stating
+ * the snippet was not saved.
+ */
+const describeSubmitFailure = ({ failure, messages, isUpdate }: SubmitFailureNotice): string =>
+	failure.unconfirmed
+		? failure.message ?? ''
+		: [
+			isUpdate ? messages.failedUpdate : messages.failedCreate,
+			failure.message ?? __('The server did not send a valid response.', 'code-snippets')
+		].filter(Boolean).join(' ')
+
 const conditionMessages: typeof snippetMessages = {
 	addNew: __('Create New Condition', 'code-snippets'),
 	edit: __('Edit Condition', 'code-snippets'),
@@ -105,31 +135,32 @@ export const useSubmitSnippet = (): UseSubmitSnippet => {
 			request.active = false
 		}
 
-		const result = await (async (): Promise<Snippet | string | undefined> => {
+		const result = await (async (): Promise<Snippet | SubmitFailure> => {
 			try {
 				const { id } = request
 
 				const response = await (undefined === id || 0 === id
 					? api.create(request)
 					: api.update({ ...request, id }))
 
-				return response.id ? createSnippetObject(response) : undefined
+				return response.id ? createSnippetObject(response) : { unconfirmed: false }
 			} catch (error: unknown) {
-				return isAxiosError(error) ? describeRequestError(error) : undefined
+				return {
+					message: isAxiosError(error) ? describeRequestError(error) : undefined,
+					unconfirmed: isUnconfirmedRequest(error)
+				}
 			} finally {
 				setIsWorking(false)
 			}
 		})()
 
 		const messages = isCondition(snippet) ? conditionMessages : snippetMessages
 
-		if (undefined === result || 'string' === typeof result) {
-			const message = [
-				request.id ? messages.failedUpdate : messages.failedCreate,
-				result ?? __('The server did not send a valid response.', 'code-snippets')
-			]
-
-			setCurrentNotice(['error', message.filter(Boolean).join(' ')])
+		if (isSubmitFailure(result)) {
+			setCurrentNotice([
+				'error',
+				describeSubmitFailure({ failure: result, messages, isUpdate: Boolean(request.id) })
+			])
 			return undefined
 		}
 

src/js/utils/errors.ts

@@ -29,6 +29,16 @@ export const unpackErrorResponse = (error: unknown): string => {
 	return __('An unknown error occurred.', 'code-snippets')
 }
 
+/**
+ * Whether a request finished without the browser receiving a response.
+ *
+ * Nothing can be concluded about the write itself from this: the request may
+ * never have arrived, or it may have been handled and the response lost on the
+ * way back. Aborts are excluded, as the caller stopped those deliberately.
+ */
+export const isUnconfirmedRequest = (error: unknown): boolean =>
+	isAxiosError(error) && !error.response && !isAbortError(error)
+
 /**
  * Explain a failed request in terms the reader can act on.
  *
@@ -44,7 +54,8 @@ export const describeRequestError = (error: unknown): string => {
 
 	if (!error.response) {
 		return __(
-			'The request did not reach your site. Check your connection, or whether a security plugin is blocking it.',
+			'No response came back, so this could not be confirmed. The change may already have been saved — ' +
+			'check in another tab before trying again.',
 			'code-snippets'
 		)
 	}

tests/e2e/editor-save-outcomes.spec.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+import { expect, test } from '@playwright/test'
+import { SnippetsTestHelper } from './helpers/SnippetsTestHelper'
+import { TIMEOUTS } from './helpers/constants'
+import { wpCli } from './helpers/wpCli'
+
+/**
+ * A save whose response never reaches the browser proves nothing about whether
+ * the snippet was written. The editor used to report it as a definite failure
+ * that never reached the site, which sent people back to re-save work that had
+ * in fact been saved.
+ */
+
+const PREFIX = 'E2E Save Outcome'
+
+/** Matches the snippets collection and single-snippet routes, on pretty and plain permalinks alike. */
+const isSnippetWriteRequest = (url: string): boolean =>
+	url.includes('rest_route=%2Fcode-snippets%2Fv1%2Fsnippets') ||
+	url.includes('/wp-json/code-snippets/v1/snippets')
+
+test.describe('Reporting a save whose outcome is unknown', () => {
+	let helper: SnippetsTestHelper
+	let snippetName: string
+
+	test.beforeEach(async ({ page }) => {
+		helper = new SnippetsTestHelper(page)
+		snippetName = SnippetsTestHelper.makeUniqueSnippetName(PREFIX)
+
+		await wpCli(['eval', `
+			$snippet = new \\Code_Snippets\\Model\\Snippet([
+				'name' => ${JSON.stringify(snippetName)},
+				'code' => ${JSON.stringify('// original\n')},
+				'scope' => 'global',
+				'active' => false,
+			]);
+			echo \\Code_Snippets\\save_snippet($snippet)->id;
+		`])
+	})
+
+	test.afterEach(async () => {
+		await SnippetsTestHelper.cleanupSnippetsByPrefix(PREFIX)
+	})
+
+	test('does not claim the request never arrived, or that nothing was saved', async ({ page }) => {
+		await helper.openSnippet(snippetName)
+
+		// Drop the save on its way back, leaving the browser without a response.
+		await page.route(url => isSnippetWriteRequest(url.toString()), route => route.abort('failed'))
+
+		await helper.saveSnippet()
+
+		const notice = page.locator('.code-snippets-notice.error, .snippet-editor-sidebar .notice.error').first()
+		await expect(notice).toBeVisible({ timeout: TIMEOUTS.DEFAULT })
+
+		await expect(notice, 'the reader should be told the outcome is unconfirmed')
+			.toContainText('could not be confirmed')
+
+		const text = await notice.textContent() ?? ''
+
+		expect(text, 'nothing establishes that the request failed to arrive')
+			.not.toContain('did not reach your site')
+		expect(text, 'nothing establishes that the snippet was left unsaved')
+			.not.toContain('Could not update snippet')
+	})
+})