Remove the HTMX GET cache-buster query string

[reakaleek]

HTMX navigation no longer appends a builder-version ?v= query string. Request URLs match the page URL, and the same key no longer overwrites search's product-version filter.

Affects: Site UI, API reference, Codex builds

Prompt summary: Remove the HTMX GET ?v= cache-buster. It existed for out-of-band swap cache invalidation that no longer applies.

Why

HTMX GET requests append a builder-version v query string so caches do not serve stale HTML during out-of-band swaps. Navigation now uses hx-boost on #main-container. HTMX history is already off, and static assets already use a content hash. The same v key overwrites the product-version filter on full-page search.

What

HTMX request URLs

Boosted GET requests no longer receive a builder-version v parameter. History updates no longer strip that parameter. The request URL and the address bar stay aligned with the page URL.

Layout model

The layout no longer carries DocsBuilderVersion or data-docs-builder-version. Markdown, Codex, and API pages stop hashing the builder version into every view model.

Synthetics

The /docs/api journey still asserts a full page load through isNavigationRequest(). It no longer treats a missing v parameter as proof the click was not HTMX.

Verify

cd src/Elastic.Documentation.Site && npm run test && npm run compile:check
dotnet test tests/Navigation.Tests/
dotnet test tests/Elastic.ApiExplorer.Tests/

Out of scope: Search still uses ?v= for the product version. Static files still use ?v={contentHash}.

Made with Cursor

[github-actions]

Docs preview (local build)

Handbook preview: https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-builder/pull/4074/

[github-actions]

Requesting changes: this update removes DocsBuilderVersion from GlobalLayoutViewModel but leaves a remaining initializer in tests/Navigation.Tests/Rendering/FooterRenderingTests.cs, which breaks Navigation.Tests compilation with CS0117.

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[github-actions]

[HIGH] Removing DocsBuilderVersion leaves the test suite uncompilable

Deleting this property breaks at least one remaining object initializer that still sets it (tests/Navigation.Tests/Rendering/FooterRenderingTests.cs, DocsBuilderVersion = "test"). That causes CS0117 in Navigation.Tests, so this PR currently does not build for that test project.

Please remove the stale assignment(s) in tests (or keep a compatible property while all call sites are migrated).