Duplicate network requests in Vanilla JS
When several components each fetch the same endpoint, you pay for the same data multiple times — wasted bandwidth, extra server load, slower time-to-content, and the risk that responses arrive out of order and overwrite each other. It is endemic in AI-built frontends because each component is generated in isolation, so each one fetches what it needs independently instead of sharing.
Symptoms
How VibeCheck catches it
In your widget · Problems
Duplicate GET request
To your coding agent · MCP
agent › get_detected_issues
→ { detector: "duplicate-requests", issue: "Duplicate GET request", threshold: "The same method + URL requested 2 or more times within 2 seconds" }
The same string in your widget and in your agent’s context — no screenshot, no copy-paste.
Root causes
The fix for Vanilla JS
Keep a Map of in-flight promises keyed by URL so concurrent callers share one request, and cache resolved results with a short TTL.
const cache = new Map()
export function getJSON(url) {
if (!cache.has(url)) cache.set(url, fetch(url).then((r) => r.json()))
return cache.get(url)
}Steps
- Adopt a query cache (or a shared in-flight promise map) that dedupes by key
- Give the same resource the same query key everywhere it’s used
- Debounce search/autocomplete and cache responses on the server
FAQ
- Is fetching the same URL twice always a bug?
- Not always — polling or intentional revalidation is fine. VibeCheck flags the same method+URL hitting 2+ times within 2 seconds, which almost always means two components fetched independently rather than sharing.
- Does HTTP caching solve this?
Cache-Controlhelps the browser reuse responses, but the requests are still made and can still race. Client-side dedup (a query cache or shared promise) prevents the duplicate calls in the first place.- Why do my duplicates come in bursts on mount?
- Because several components mount together and each kicks off its own fetch. Sharing one query key (or lifting the fetch to a parent/loader) collapses them into a single request.