Next.js: Cache System Overhaul and Turbopack Improvements
The Next.js team merged 20 pull requests focused on cache tag encoding fixes, API stabilization, and Turbopack performance improvements. Key changes include fixing non-ASCII character handling in cache tags and stabilizing the IO API.
Duration: PT2M5S
Episode overview
This episode is a short developer briefing from Next.js.
It explains recent repository work in plain language.
- Show: Next.js
- Published: 2026-05-08T10:01:51Z
- Audio duration: PT2M5S
Transcript excerpt
This excerpt keeps the crawler page concise. Listen to the episode or use the RSS feed for the full update.
Good morning, this is your Next.js developer briefing for May 8th, 2026.
The development team merged 20 pull requests yesterday, addressing critical cache system issues and performance improvements.
Hendrik Liebau merged a significant fix for non-ASCII characters in cache tags. When cache tags contained Hebrew, CJK characters, or emoji, they would crash ISR responses with ERR_INVALID_CHAR errors. The fix introduces a new encodeCacheTag helper that properly encodes these characters at construction time,…
Josh Story stabilized the unstable_io API, removing the unstable prefix. This API was only available in canaries, so the transition removes the prefix entirely without maintaining backward compatibility.
Tim White added a new chunkLoadingGlobal config option for Turbopack. This addresses conflicts when multiple Turbopack-built applications run on the same page, allowing each app to use its own isolated global variable instead of the default TURBOPACK namespace.
Tobias Koppers improved Turbopack's persistent cache versioning, switching from git describe to the Next.js package version plus git SHA. This eliminates dependency on local git tag state and fixes cache issues with forks and…
Nearby episodes from Next.js
- Developer Experience Overhaul and Test Infrastructure Migration
- Turbopack Performance and Telemetry Updates
- CI Pipeline Optimization
- Optimistic Routing and Performance Improvements
- React 19 Upgrade and Turbopack Performance Gains
- Cache Fixes and Performance Wins
- Cache Security and Turbopack Performance
- Core Infrastructure Updates and React Upgrade