[Vite, Vue, HMR] /ns/rt $navigateTo throws "app navigator missing" for ~400ms after mount because the client strategy install isn't awaited #11422

Issue Description

Runtime error (dev server / HMR only). @nativescript/vite 8.0.5 · nativescript-vue 3.0.3 · @nativescript/core 9.1.1 · iOS simulator (iPhone 17 Pro Max).

Scope: iOS simulator only; not tested on Android or a physical device. This only becomes reachable in my setup once #11421 is worked around (NS_VENDOR_INCLUDE=...), but it is a separate mechanism.

Under HMR, $navigateTo comes from the /ns/rt bridge, which delegates to globalThis.__nsNavigateUsingApp and throws when that global is missing. The global is installed by the Vue client strategy, which is loaded by a fire-and-forget dynamic import() at module scope — nothing gates app boot on it.

Measured on an iOS simulator, the global is undefined at root-component mount (t+2-3ms) and becomes a function at t+395ms / t+434ms across runs. It's a device-side HTTP fetch, so a real device or a slower network will be later — no fixed delay is safe to assume. So a root/loader component that navigates shortly after mount fails:

Error: $navigateTo unavailable: app navigator missing

It's a race, not a permanent absence — a navigate at t+170ms fails, the same navigate at t+3000ms succeeds.

Expected behavior: $navigateTo from /ns/rt navigates (possibly after the strategy finishes loading) instead of throwing, matching what the same code does with --no-hmr.

I intend to submit a PR for this — have the bridge's $navigateTo wait for the client strategy to be installed (the loader already exports CLIENT_STRATEGY_READY) instead of throwing.

Reproduction

The realistic trigger is a root/loader component that navigates on startup (auth check, then go to Home):

// Root component (Loader.vue), plain nativescript-vue 3
import { $navigateTo } from 'nativescript-vue';
onMounted(() => {
  nextTick(async () => {
    await checkAuth();      // any short async step
    $navigateTo(Home);
  });
});

1. Blank ns create Vue TS app + npx nativescript-vite init (boots under HMR).
2. Make the root component navigate as above, ~150ms after mount.
3. ns debug ios → throws $navigateTo unavailable: app navigator missing.
4. ns debug ios --no-hmr → navigates fine.

That exact shape passes with --no-hmr and fails under HMR, so the difference is the bridge, not the app. (Under --no-hmr the global is never installed at all — it logs "NEVER INSTALLED after 8597ms" and still navigates, because $navigateTo there is the vendor's, not the bridge's. So a timing difference can't explain the pass.)

Note: an immediate synchronous navigate from the root onMounted is invalid even without HMR (_context of null), so the async-then-navigate shape above is the load-bearing case.

Measured on the blank app with the #11421 workaround applied:

Relevant log output (if applicable)

[ns-rt] $navigateTo unavailable: app navigator missing
Error: $navigateTo unavailable: app navigator missing

Environment

OS: macOS 26.6.2
CPU: (16) arm64 Apple M3 Max
Shell: /bin/zsh
node: 24.21.0
npm: 11.19.0
nativescript: 9.1.0 (project-local)

# ios
xcode: 26.6/17F113
cocoapods: 1.14.2
platforms:
  - iOS 26.5

"dependencies": {
  "@nativescript/core": "~9.1.0",
  "nativescript-vue": "~3.0.3",
  "@valor/nativescript-websockets": "^2.0.2"
},
"devDependencies": {
  "@nativescript/ios": "~9.1.0",
  "@nativescript/tailwind": "^4.0.0",
  "@nativescript/types": "~9.1.0",
  "@nativescript/vite": "~8.0.4",
  "@types/node": "^20.0.0",
  "@vitejs/plugin-vue": "^6.0.8",
  "@vitejs/plugin-vue-jsx": "^5.1.6",
  "nativescript": "~9.1.0",
  "tailwindcss": "^4.0.0",
  "typescript": "~6.0.0",
  "vite": "^8.2.2",
  "vue-tsc": "^3.3.9"
}

Please accept these terms

• I have searched the existing issues as well as StackOverflow and this has not been posted before
• This is a bug report
• I agree to follow this project's Code of Conduct