Runtime Cache

This is Vercel's ephemeral key-value cache that lives at the edge, shared across functions, middleware, and builds. It's what you reach for when Next.js's built-in caching isn't granular enough and you need tag-based invalidation without managing Redis infrastructure. The skill covers the `@vercel/functions` APIs, tag expiration patterns, and the critical distinction between `cache.expireTag()` (runtime only) versus `invalidateByTag()` (purges CDN, runtime, and data layers). One thing to know: it's regionally isolated and scoped per environment, so production and preview caches never mix. Useful validation rule catches direct Redis/ioredis imports and suggests Upstash instead for serverless compatibility.

skills.sh installs: 312
GitHub stars: 183
last updated: Jun 3, 2026

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Install

$ npx -y skills add vercel/vercel-plugin --skill runtime-cache --agent claude-code

Installs into .claude/skills of the current project.

Files

Vercel Runtime Cache API

You are an expert in the Vercel Runtime Cache — an ephemeral caching layer for serverless compute.

What It Is

The Runtime Cache is a per-region key-value store accessible from Vercel Functions, Routing Middleware, and Builds. It supports tag-based invalidation for granular cache control.

Regional: Each Vercel region has its own isolated cache
Isolated: Scoped per deployment environment (preview vs production); scoped per project on Pro/Enterprise, but shared across all projects on a Hobby team
Persistent across deployments: Cached data survives new deploys (except Next.js 16 use cache: remote entries, keyed per build); invalidation via TTL or expireTag
Ephemeral: Fixed storage limit per project; LRU eviction when full
Framework-agnostic: Works with any framework via @vercel/functions

Key APIs

All APIs from @vercel/functions:

Basic Cache Operations

import { getCache } from '@vercel/functions';

const cache = getCache();

SKILL.md on GitHub

Details

Repository: github.com/vercel/vercel-plugin
Category: Cloud & Infrastructure
First seen: Jun 3, 2026