vercel/next.js / errors / nested-use-cache-no-explicit-cachelife.mdx

---

title: Nested "use cache" with short cache lifetime requires explicit cacheLife on outer cache

Why This Error Occurred

A "use cache" function or component with a very short cache lifetime (either revalidate: 0 or expire under 5 minutes) is nested inside another "use cache" that doesn't have an explicit cacheLife() call.

When a nested cache has a very short lifetime, it would normally create a "dynamic hole" - meaning it's excluded from static prerenders. However, when this happens inside another "use cache" without an explicit cacheLife, the outer cache's lifetime silently becomes very short too (via propagation), which may be unintentional.

To prevent accidental misconfigurations, Next.js requires you to explicitly declare your intent by adding cacheLife() to the outer "use cache".

Possible Ways to Fix It

Add an explicit cacheLife() call to the outer "use cache" to declare your intent.

Before

import { cacheLife } from 'next/cache'

export async function ShortLivedWidget() {
  'use cache'
  cacheLife('seconds')
  const data = await fetchRealtimeData()
  return <div>{data}</div>
}

import { ShortLivedWidget } from '@/components/short-lived-widget'

export default async function Page() {
  'use cache'
  // Error: no explicit cacheLife on outer cache
  return (
    <div>
      <h1>Dashboard</h1>
      <p>Last updated: {new Date().toISOString()}</p>
      <ShortLivedWidget />
    </div>
  )
}

After: If you want the outer cache to remain static (prerendered)

Set a longer cache lifetime on the outer cache:

import { cacheLife } from 'next/cache'
import { ShortLivedWidget } from '@/components/short-lived-widget'

export default async function Page() {
  'use cache'
  cacheLife('default') // Explicit cacheLife prevents the error
  return (
    <div>
      <h1>Dashboard</h1>
      <p>Last updated: {new Date().toISOString()}</p>
      <ShortLivedWidget />
    </div>
  )
}

After: If you want the outer cache to also be short-lived

Explicitly set a short cache lifetime on the outer cache to confirm this is intentional. Wrap the component in a <Suspense> boundary to provide a fallback while content loads:

import { Suspense } from 'react'
import { cacheLife } from 'next/cache'
import { ShortLivedWidget } from '@/components/short-lived-widget'

async function Content() {
  'use cache: remote'
  cacheLife('seconds') // Explicit cacheLife confirms this is intentionally short-lived
  return (
    <>
      <p>Last updated: {new Date().toISOString()}</p>
      <ShortLivedWidget />
    </>
  )
}

export default function Page() {
  return (
    <div>
      <h1>Dashboard</h1>
      <Suspense fallback={<p>Loading...</p>}>
        <Content />
      </Suspense>
    </div>
  )
}

Note: This example uses "use cache: remote" because runtime caching in serverless deployments doesn't persist across requests with the default in-memory cache. For self-hosted environments, "use cache" may be sufficient. See Runtime caching considerations for more details.

Useful Links

• cacheLife function
• "use cache" directive
• Prerendering behavior
• Nested short-lived caches