fix: clear stale routingInfo on restart to prevent slow/unstable connections

fix: clear stale routingInfo on restart to prevent slow/unstable connections

src/Defaults/index.ts

@@ -87,6 +87,12 @@ export const DEFAULT_CONNECTION_CONFIG: SocketConfig = {
 	enableCTWARecovery: true,
 	// Enable interactive messages (buttons, lists, templates, carousel)
 	enableInteractiveMessages: true,
+	// Clear stale routingInfo on every socket creation so the WhatsApp load balancer
+	// assigns a fresh, healthy edge server after any restart (pm2, server reboot, deploy).
+	// The server always sends a new routingInfo during the connection handshake, so the
+	// old value is never needed. Keeping it can cause slow or unstable sessions when the
+	// previous edge server is overloaded or has stale state.
+	clearRoutingInfoOnStart: true,
 	options: {},
 	appStateMacVerification: {
 		patch: false,

src/Socket/socket.ts

@@ -178,6 +178,15 @@ export const makeSocket = (config: SocketConfig) => {
 		throw new Boom('Mobile API is not supported anymore', { statusCode: DisconnectReason.loggedOut })
 	}
 
+	// If clearRoutingInfoOnStart is enabled, discard the stored routing hint so WhatsApp
+	// assigns a fresh edge server on this connection. This fixes sessions that became slow
+	// after a pm2 restart because the previous edge server retained stale state.
+	// Signal keys and auth credentials are NOT affected — no QR re-scan is needed.
+	if (config.clearRoutingInfoOnStart && authState?.creds?.routingInfo) {
+		logger.info('clearRoutingInfoOnStart: discarding stored routingInfo to force fresh edge server assignment')
+		authState.creds.routingInfo = undefined
+	}
+
 	if (url.protocol === 'wss' && authState?.creds?.routingInfo) {
 		url.searchParams.append('ED', authState.creds.routingInfo.toString('base64url'))
 	}
@@ -500,6 +509,13 @@ export const makeSocket = (config: SocketConfig) => {
 
 	const ev = makeEventBuffer(logger)
 
+	// Persist the routingInfo clearing so the consumer's saveCreds() writes the clean state to disk.
+	// This ensures that if the process restarts again before the server assigns new routingInfo,
+	// the stale value is not reused.
+	if (config.clearRoutingInfoOnStart && !authState?.creds?.routingInfo) {
+		ev.emit('creds.update', authState.creds)
+	}
+
 	const { creds } = authState
 	// add transaction capability
 	const keys = addTransactionCapability(authState.keys, logger, transactionOpts)

src/Types/Socket.ts

@@ -141,6 +141,26 @@ export type SocketConfig = {
 	 */
 	enableInteractiveMessages: boolean
 
+	/**
+	 * When true, clears the `routingInfo` stored in credentials before connecting.
+	 *
+	 * `routingInfo` is a hint that directs the socket to reconnect to the same
+	 * WhatsApp edge server used in the previous session. After a code update or
+	 * server-side configuration change, the old edge server may retain stale state
+	 * (throttling, queued messages, etc.) that causes persistent slowness even with
+	 * fresh code — only solvable by re-scanning the QR code.
+	 *
+	 * Setting this to `true` forces WhatsApp to assign a fresh edge server on the
+	 * next connection, equivalent to the clean state you get after a QR re-scan,
+	 * but without invalidating the session or Signal keys.
+	 *
+	 * Recommended usage: enable this option in your `startSock()` call right after
+	 * deploying a new version, then disable it on subsequent reconnections.
+	 *
+	 * @default false
+	 */
+	clearRoutingInfoOnStart: boolean
+
 	/**
 	 * Returns if a jid should be ignored,
 	 * no event for that jid will be triggered.