# New HTTP standards for caching on the modern web

DevFeed: [New HTTP standards for caching on the modern web](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/new-http-standards-for-caching-on-the-modern-web-19097.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://httptoolkit.com/blog/status-targeted-caching-headers/>)

Author: HTTP Toolkit; Tim Perry

Published: 2021-10-20T14:00:00Z

Content type: article

Language: en

Sources: [HTTP Toolkit](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/http-toolkit.md>)

Topics: [HTTP](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/http.md>), [Caching](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/caching.md>), [Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/ietf.md>), [Web](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/web.md>), [Back end](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/backend.md>), [servers](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/servers.md>)

Tags: [backend](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/backend.md>), [cache](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/cache.md>), [cache-control](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/cache-control.md>), [caching](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/caching.md>), [cdn](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/cdn.md>), [http](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/http.md>), [ietf](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/ietf.md>), [latency](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/latency.md>), [performance](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/performance.md>), [server](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/server.md>), [standards](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/standards.md>), [web](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/web.md>)

## AI overview

This article explains two emerging IETF HTTP standards for CDN and cache management: the Cache-Status header and Targeted Cache-Control Headers. It describes how they are intended to improve cache debugging and configuration, while noting that both specifications are still new and widespread support is not yet expected.

## Source excerpt

If you run any large public-facing website or web application on the modern web, caching your static content in a CDN or other caching service is super important. It's also remarkably complicated and confusing. Fortunately, the HTTP working group at the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) is working to define new HTTP standards to make this better. There's been a lot of work here recently to launch two new HTTP header draft standards intended to make debugging your caching easier, and to provide more control over your cache configuration. Let's see what that means, how these work, and why everyone developing on the web should care. The Standards The two proposed standards I'm talking about are: The Cache-Status Header Targeted Cache-Control Headers These are designed to update HTTP standards to match the reality of the CDN-powered web that exists today, creating specifications that formalize existing practices from popular CDNs (like Fastly, Akamai & Cloudflare, all of whom have been involved in the writing the standards themselves). Both of these are fairly new specifications: Cache-Status has completed multiple rounds of review in 2021 and is currently awaiting (since August) final review & publication as a formal RFC, while Targeted Cache-Control Headers is currently an adopted draft standard, but in its last call for feedback. In both cases, they're backed by the IETF, they're received a lot of discussion already and it's unlikely they'll change much beyond this point, but they're also still new, so support isn't likely to be widespread yet. Why does caching matter? If you're running a high-profile user-facing web application, caches and CDNs are absolutely critical to providing good performance for end users at a reasonable cost. Caches and CDNs sit in front of your web server, acting as a reverse proxy to ensure that: Content is cached, so your backend server only receives occasional requests for static content, not one request direct from every visitor. Co