Data Fetching & Caching

Extended fetch API

Next.js extends the native fetch with caching and revalidation options:

// app/page.tsx
async function getData() {
  const res = await fetch("https://api.example.com/posts", {
    cache: "force-cache", // Default: cache forever (SSG)
  })

  if (!res.ok) {
    throw new Error("Failed to fetch data")
  }

  return res.json()
}

export default async function Page() {
  const data = await getData()
  return <div>{/* render data */}</div>
}

Cache Options

// 1. Force cache (Static Site Generation)
fetch("https://api.example.com/data", {
  cache: "force-cache", // Default behavior
})

// 2. No cache (Server-Side Rendering)
fetch("https://api.example.com/data", {
  cache: "no-store", // Always fetch fresh data
})

// 3. Revalidate (Incremental Static Regeneration)
fetch("https://api.example.com/data", {
  next: { revalidate: 3600 }, // Revalidate every hour
})

// 4. Revalidate with tags
fetch("https://api.example.com/data", {
  next: { tags: ["posts"] },
})

Revalidation Methods

Time-based Revalidation (ISR)

// Revalidate every 60 seconds
async function getPosts() {
  const res = await fetch("https://api.example.com/posts", {
    next: { revalidate: 60 },
  })
  return res.json()
}

// Route segment config
export const revalidate = 60 // seconds

export default async function Page() {
  const posts = await getPosts()
  return <div>{/* render */}</div>
}

On-Demand Revalidation

// app/api/revalidate/route.ts
import { revalidatePath, revalidateTag } from "next/cache"
import { NextRequest } from "next/server"

export async function POST(request: NextRequest) {
  const path = request.nextUrl.searchParams.get("path")

  if (path) {
    revalidatePath(path)
    return Response.json({ revalidated: true, now: Date.now() })
  }

  return Response.json({ revalidated: false })
}

// Usage in Server Action
;("use server")

import { revalidatePath } from "next/cache"

export async function createPost(data: FormData) {
  await db.post.create({ data })

  // Revalidate specific path
  revalidatePath("/posts")

  // Revalidate entire layout
  revalidatePath("/posts", "layout")
}

Tag-based Revalidation

// Fetch with tags
async function getPosts() {
  const res = await fetch("https://api.example.com/posts", {
    next: { tags: ["posts"] },
  })
  return res.json()
}

async function getAuthors() {
  const res = await fetch("https://api.example.com/authors", {
    next: { tags: ["authors"] },
  })
  return res.json()
}

// Revalidate by tag
import { revalidateTag } from "next/cache"

export async function createPost() {
  // Revalidate all fetches tagged with 'posts'
  revalidateTag("posts")
}

Route Segment Config

// app/posts/page.tsx

// Force dynamic rendering
export const dynamic = "force-dynamic" // 'auto' | 'force-dynamic' | 'error' | 'force-static'

// Revalidation interval
export const revalidate = 3600 // false | 0 | number (seconds)

// Fetch cache
export const fetchCache = "auto" // 'auto' | 'default-cache' | 'only-cache' | 'force-cache' | 'force-no-store' | 'default-no-store' | 'only-no-store'

// Runtime
export const runtime = "nodejs" // 'nodejs' | 'edge'

// Preferred region
export const preferredRegion = "auto" // 'auto' | 'home' | 'edge' | string | string[]

export default async function Page() {
  return <div>Posts</div>
}

Parallel Data Fetching

async function getUser() {
  return fetch("https://api.example.com/user")
}

async function getPosts() {
  return fetch("https://api.example.com/posts")
}

async function getComments() {
  return fetch("https://api.example.com/comments")
}

export default async function Page() {
  // Fetch in parallel with Promise.all
  const [user, posts, comments] = await Promise.all([getUser(), getPosts(), getComments()])

  return (
    <div>
    </div>
  )
}

Sequential Data Fetching

// When one fetch depends on another
export default async function Page({ params }: { params: { id: string } }) {
  // First fetch
  const user = await fetch(`https://api.example.com/users/${params.id}`).then((res) => res.json())

  // Second fetch depends on first
  const posts = await fetch(`https://api.example.com/users/${user.id}/posts`).then((res) =>
    res.json()
  )

  return (
    <div>
      <h1>{user.name}</h1>
    </div>
  )
}

Streaming with Suspense

// app/page.tsx
import { Suspense } from "react"

async function Posts() {
  const posts = await fetch("https://api.example.com/posts", {
    cache: "no-store",
  }).then((res) => res.json())

  return (
    <ul>
      {posts.map((post: Post) => (
        <li key={post.id}>{post.title}</li>
      ))}
    </ul>
  )
}

export default function Page() {
  return (
    <div>
      <h1>Posts</h1>
      <Suspense fallback={<div>Loading posts...</div>}>
    </div>
  )
}

React cache for Deduplication

// lib/data.ts
import { cache } from "react"

export const getUser = cache(async (id: string) => {
  const res = await fetch(`https://api.example.com/users/${id}`)
  return res.json()
})

// components/user-profile.tsx
export async function UserProfile({ userId }: { userId: string }) {
  const user = await getUser(userId) // Cached
  return <div>{user.name}</div>
}

// components/user-posts.tsx
export async function UserPosts({ userId }: { userId: string }) {
  const user = await getUser(userId) // Uses cached result
  return <div>{user.posts.length} posts</div>
}

// app/page.tsx
export default function Page() {
  return (
    <>
      <UserPosts userId="123" /> {/* Same fetch, deduplicated */}
    </>
  )
}

Database Queries

// lib/db.ts
import { PrismaClient } from "@prisma/client"

const globalForPrisma = global as unknown as { prisma: PrismaClient }

export const db = globalForPrisma.prisma || new PrismaClient()

if (process.env.NODE_ENV !== "production") globalForPrisma.prisma = db

// app/posts/page.tsx
import { db } from "@/lib/db"

export const revalidate = 60 // Revalidate every 60 seconds

export default async function PostsPage() {
  const posts = await db.post.findMany({
    include: { author: true },
    orderBy: { createdAt: "desc" },
  })

  return (
    <div>
      {posts.map((post) => (
        <article key={post.id}>
          <h2>{post.title}</h2>
          <p>By {post.author.name}</p>
        </article>
      ))}
    </div>
  )
}

Error Handling

async function getData() {
  const res = await fetch("https://api.example.com/data")

  if (!res.ok) {
    // This will activate the closest error.tsx
    throw new Error("Failed to fetch data")
  }

  return res.json()
}

export default async function Page() {
  const data = await getData()
  return <div>{data.title}</div>
}

// app/error.tsx
;("use client")

export default function Error({
  error,
  reset,
}: {
  error: Error & { digest?: string }
  reset: () => void
}) {
  return (
    <div>
      <h2>Something went wrong!</h2>
      <button onClick={() => reset()}>Try again</button>
    </div>
  )
}

Loading States

// app/posts/loading.tsx
export default function Loading() {
  return <div>Loading posts...</div>
}

// app/posts/page.tsx
export default async function PostsPage() {
  const posts = await fetch("https://api.example.com/posts").then((res) => res.json())

  return <div>{/* render posts */}</div>
}

Client-Side Data Fetching

// When you need client-side fetching
"use client"

import useSWR from "swr"

const fetcher = (url: string) => fetch(url).then((res) => res.json())

export function Posts() {
  const { data, error, isLoading } = useSWR("/api/posts", fetcher, {
    refreshInterval: 3000, // Refresh every 3 seconds
  })

  if (error) return <div>Failed to load</div>
  if (isLoading) return <div>Loading...</div>

  return (
    <ul>
      {data.map((post: Post) => (
        <li key={post.id}>{post.title}</li>
      ))}
    </ul>
  )
}

Preloading Data

// lib/data.ts
import { cache } from "react"

export const preload = (id: string) => {
  void getUser(id) // Trigger fetch without awaiting
}

export const getUser = cache(async (id: string) => {
  return fetch(`https://api.example.com/users/${id}`).then((res) => res.json())
})

// components/user.tsx
import { getUser, preload } from "@/lib/data"

export async function User({ id }: { id: string }) {
  const user = await getUser(id)
  return <div>{user.name}</div>
}

// app/page.tsx
import { User } from "@/components/user"
import { preload } from "@/lib/data"

export default async function Page() {
  preload("123") // Start loading immediately
  return <User id="123" />
}

Static Generation with Dynamic Routes

// app/posts/[slug]/page.tsx
type Post = {
  slug: string
  title: string
  content: string
}

export async function generateStaticParams() {
  const posts = await fetch("https://api.example.com/posts").then((res) => res.json())

  return posts.map((post: Post) => ({
    slug: post.slug,
  }))
}

export default async function Post({ params }: { params: { slug: string } }) {
  const post = await fetch(`https://api.example.com/posts/${params.slug}`).then((res) => res.json())

  return (
    <article>
      <h1>{post.title}</h1>
      <div>{post.content}</div>
    </article>
  )
}

Quick Reference

Strategy	Config	Use Case
SSG	cache: 'force-cache'	Static content
SSR	cache: 'no-store'	Always fresh data
ISR	next: \{ revalidate: 60 \}	Periodic updates
Tag-based	next: \{ tags: ['posts'] \}	On-demand revalidation
Dynamic	export const dynamic = 'force-dynamic'	Per-request data

Best Practices

1. Default to caching - Use force-cache for static content
2. Use ISR - Revalidate periodically for semi-dynamic content
3. Parallel fetching - Use Promise.all for independent requests
4. Deduplicate - Use React cache() for repeated calls
5. Stream with Suspense - Show content progressively
6. Tag your fetches - Enable granular revalidation
7. Handle errors - Use error.tsx for graceful degradation