The use cache Directive

Next.js 16 adds Cache Components: you mark a function or component with 'use cache' and Next.js caches its result. It works for any async code (database, ORM), not just fetch. Enable it in the config:

import type { NextConfig } from 'next';

const nextConfig: NextConfig = {
  cacheComponents: true, // Next.js 16 (in 15 this was experimental.useCache / dynamicIO)
};

export default nextConfig;

import { cacheLife, cacheTag } from 'next/cache';
import { prisma } from '@/lib/prisma';

export async function getCategoryProducts(slug: string) {
  'use cache';
  cacheLife('hours'); // built-in profiles: 'seconds', 'minutes', 'hours', 'days', 'weeks', 'max'
  cacheTag('category-' + slug);

  return prisma.product.findMany({ where: { category: { slug } } });
}

• The arguments (slug) become part of the cache key.
• Inside a cached function you cannot call cookies() or headers(); read them outside and pass values in.
• This is the direction Next.js is moving; unstable_cache and route-level revalidate still work.