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version: "1.0.0" name: next-cache-components description: Next.js 16 Cache Components - PPR, use cache directive, cacheLife, cacheTag, updateTag

Cache Components (Next.js 16+)

Cache Components enable Partial Prerendering (PPR) - mix static, cached, and dynamic content in a single route.

Enable Cache Components

// next.config.ts
import type { NextConfig } from 'next'
const nextConfig: NextConfig = {
  cacheComponents: true,
}
export default nextConfig

This replaces the old experimental.ppr flag.

Three Content Types

With Cache Components enabled, content falls into three categories:

1. Static (Auto-Prerendered)

Synchronous code, imports, pure computations - prerendered at build time:

tsx

export default function Page() {
  return (
    <header>
      <h1>Our Blog</h1>  {/* Static - instant */}
      <nav>...</nav>
    </header>
  )
}

2. Cached (`use cache`)

Async data that doesn't need fresh fetches every request:

tsx

async function BlogPosts() {
  'use cache'
  cacheLife('hours')
  const posts = await db.posts.findMany()
  return <PostList posts={posts} />
}

3. Dynamic (Suspense)

Runtime data that must be fresh - wrap in Suspense:

tsx

import { Suspense } from 'react'
export default function Page() {
  return (
    <>
      <BlogPosts />  {/* Cached */}
      <Suspense fallback={<p>Loading...</p>}>
        <UserPreferences />  {/* Dynamic - streams in */}
      </Suspense>
    </>
  )
}
async function UserPreferences() {
  const theme = (await cookies()).get('theme')?.value
  return <p>Theme: {theme}</p>
}

`use cache` Directive

File Level

tsx

'use cache'
export default async function Page() {
  // Entire page is cached
  const data = await fetchData()
  return <div>{data}</div>
}

Component Level

tsx

export async function CachedComponent() {
  'use cache'
  const data = await fetchData()
  return <div>{data}</div>
}

Function Level

tsx

export async function getData() {
  'use cache'
  return db.query('SELECT * FROM posts')
}

Cache Profiles

Built-in Profiles

tsx

'use cache'                    // Default: 5m stale, 15m revalidate

tsx

'use cache: remote'           // Platform-provided cache (Redis, KV)

tsx

'use cache: private'          // For compliance, allows runtime APIs

`cacheLife()` - Custom Lifetime

tsx

import { cacheLife } from 'next/cache'
async function getData() {
  'use cache'
  cacheLife('hours')  // Built-in profile
  return fetch('/api/data')
}

Built-in profiles: 'default', 'minutes', 'hours', 'days', 'weeks', 'max'

Inline Configuration

tsx

async function getData() {
  'use cache'
  cacheLife({
    stale: 3600,      // 1 hour - serve stale while revalidating
    revalidate: 7200, // 2 hours - background revalidation interval
    expire: 86400,    // 1 day - hard expiration
  })
  return fetch('/api/data')
}

Cache Invalidation

`cacheTag()` - Tag Cached Content

tsx

import { cacheTag } from 'next/cache'
async function getProducts() {
  'use cache'
  cacheTag('products')
  return db.products.findMany()
}
async function getProduct(id: string) {
  'use cache'
  cacheTag('products', `product-${id}`)
  return db.products.findUnique({ where: { id } })
}

`updateTag()` - Immediate Invalidation

Use when you need the cache refreshed within the same request:

tsx

'use server'
import { updateTag } from 'next/cache'
export async function updateProduct(id: string, data: FormData) {
  await db.products.update({ where: { id }, data })
  updateTag(`product-${id}`)  // Immediate - same request sees fresh data
}

`revalidateTag()` - Background Revalidation

Use for stale-while-revalidate behavior:

tsx

'use server'
import { revalidateTag } from 'next/cache'
export async function createPost(data: FormData) {
  await db.posts.create({ data })
  revalidateTag('posts')  // Background - next request sees fresh data
}

Runtime Data Constraint

Cannot access cookies(), headers(), or searchParams inside use cache.

Solution: Pass as Arguments

tsx

// Wrong - runtime API inside use cache
async function CachedProfile() {
  'use cache'
  const session = (await cookies()).get('session')?.value  // Error!
  return <div>{session}</div>
}
// Correct - extract outside, pass as argument
async function ProfilePage() {
  const session = (await cookies()).get('session')?.value
  return <CachedProfile sessionId={session} />
}
async function CachedProfile({ sessionId }: { sessionId: string }) {
  'use cache'
  // sessionId becomes part of cache key automatically
  const data = await fetchUserData(sessionId)
  return <div>{data.name}</div>
}

Exception: `use cache: private`

For compliance requirements when you can't refactor:

tsx

async function getData() {
  'use cache: private'
  const session = (await cookies()).get('session')?.value  // Allowed
  return fetchData(session)
}

Cache Key Generation

Cache keys are automatic based on:

Build ID - invalidates all caches on deploy
Function ID - hash of function location
Serializable arguments - props become part of key
Closure variables - outer scope values included

tsx

async function Component({ userId }: { userId: string }) {
  const getData = async (filter: string) => {
    'use cache'
    // Cache key = userId (closure) + filter (argument)
    return fetch(`/api/users/${userId}?filter=${filter}`)
  }
  return getData('active')
}

Complete Example

tsx

import { Suspense } from 'react'
import { cookies } from 'next/headers'
import { cacheLife, cacheTag } from 'next/cache'
export default function DashboardPage() {
  return (
    <>
      {/* Static shell - instant from CDN */}
      <header><h1>Dashboard</h1></header>
      <nav>...</nav>
      {/* Cached - fast, revalidates hourly */}
      <Stats />
      {/* Dynamic - streams in with fresh data */}
      <Suspense fallback={<NotificationsSkeleton />}>
        <Notifications />
      </Suspense>
    </>
  )
}
async function Stats() {
  'use cache'
  cacheLife('hours')
  cacheTag('dashboard-stats')
  const stats = await db.stats.aggregate()
  return <StatsDisplay stats={stats} />
}
async function Notifications() {
  const userId = (await cookies()).get('userId')?.value
  const notifications = await db.notifications.findMany({
    where: { userId, read: false }
  })
  return <NotificationList items={notifications} />
}

Migration from Previous Versions

Old Config	Replacement
`experimental.ppr`	`cacheComponents: true`
`dynamic = 'force-dynamic'`	Remove (default behavior)
`dynamic = 'force-static'`	`'use cache'` + `cacheLife('max')`
`revalidate = N`	`cacheLife({ revalidate: N })`
`unstable_cache()`	`'use cache'` directive

Migrating `unstable_cache` to `use cache`

unstable_cache has been replaced by the use cache directive in Next.js 16. When cacheComponents is enabled, convert unstable_cache calls to use cache functions:

Before (`unstable_cache`):

tsx

import { unstable_cache } from 'next/cache'
const getCachedUser = unstable_cache(
  async (id) => getUser(id),
  ['my-app-user'],
  {
    tags: ['users'],
    revalidate: 60,
  }
)
export default async function Page({ params }: { params: Promise<{ id: string }> }) {
  const { id } = await params
  const user = await getCachedUser(id)
  return <div>{user.name}</div>
}

After (`use cache`):

tsx

import { cacheLife, cacheTag } from 'next/cache'
async function getCachedUser(id: string) {
  'use cache'
  cacheTag('users')
  cacheLife({ revalidate: 60 })
  return getUser(id)
}
export default async function Page({ params }: { params: Promise<{ id: string }> }) {
  const { id } = await params
  const user = await getCachedUser(id)
  return <div>{user.name}</div>
}

Key differences:

No manual cache keys - use cache generates keys automatically from function arguments and closures. The keyParts array from unstable_cache is no longer needed.
Tags - Replace options.tags with cacheTag() calls inside the function.
Revalidation - Replace options.revalidate with cacheLife({ revalidate: N }) or a built-in profile like cacheLife('minutes').
Dynamic data - unstable_cache did not support cookies() or headers() inside the callback. The same restriction applies to use cache, but you can use 'use cache: private' if needed.

Limitations

Edge runtime not supported - requires Node.js
Static export not supported - needs server
Non-deterministic values (Math.random(), Date.now()) execute once at build time inside use cache

For request-time randomness outside cache:

tsx

import { connection } from 'next/server'
async function DynamicContent() {
  await connection()  // Defer to request time
  const id = crypto.randomUUID()  // Different per request
  return <div>{id}</div>
}

Sources:

All versions