Title: Page cache
Author: WordPress VIP Documentation
Published: September 30, 2020
Last modified: November 19, 2025

---

 1. [Caching](https://docs.wpvip.com/caching/)
 2. Page cache

#  Page cache

The page cache is the first level of caching that is encountered by each request
made to a WordPress or Node.js environment on the VIP Platform.

If a request meets specific criteria to bypass the page cache (e.g., a unique request,
or a request with `no-cache` headers), the request is [routed to the origin server](https://docs.wpvip.com/infrastructure/origin-servers/).
If it qualifies, the new response for the request is then cached at VIP’s global
network of [edge cache server locations](https://docs.wpvip.com/infrastructure/edge-servers/global-locations/)
for future requests.

VIP’s global network of edge cache server locations serves a copy of the full page
response generated by a site (usually from memory). Most of a site’s traffic can
be served from the edge location closest to the user making the request, without
ever hitting a line of PHP. This caching strategy provides low latency and very 
high site performance.

The edge cache servers also acts as a content delivery network (CDN) and serve static
assets stored in [the VIP File System](https://docs.wpvip.com/vip-file-system/) 
and applies [Brotli or Gzip file compression](https://docs.wpvip.com/infrastructure/edge-servers/file-compression/).

Insights into the page cache hit rate for HTTP requests that are made to an environment
can be reviewed in [the **Insights & Metrics** panel of the VIP Dashboard](https://docs.wpvip.com/performance/insights-metrics/).

 * 
   ### 󠀁[Default page cache responses](https://docs.wpvip.com/caching/page-cache/default-responses/)󠁿
   
 * The VIP page cache has default behaviors for cached responses and cache bypass.
 * 
   ### 󠀁[HTTP response headers](https://docs.wpvip.com/caching/page-cache/http-headers/)󠁿
   
 * HTTP headers are part of the HTTP protocol used to request web pages, request
   responses from API endpoints, and to send the response (e.g. from the web page
   or the API response).
 * 
   ### 󠀁[Caching of query parameters](https://docs.wpvip.com/caching/page-cache/query-parameter-caching/)󠁿
   
 * When receiving a request for a URL, the page cache considers the entirety of 
   the URL, including GET parameters. As a result, the page cache will identify 
   example.com/?a=1&b=1 as different from example.com?b=1&a=1 and cache each variant
   separately.
 * 
   ### 󠀁[Cookies that bypass cache](https://docs.wpvip.com/caching/page-cache/cookies/)󠁿
   
 * Only a limited set of cookies can be used to serve personalized content.
 * 
   ### 󠀁[Customize page cache behavior](https://docs.wpvip.com/caching/page-cache/customize-behavior/)󠁿
   
 * Response headers and the VIP Cache Personalization API can be leveraged by WordPress
   and Node.js applications to customize some of the default behaviors and responses
   of the page cache.
 * 
   ### 󠀁[Purge the page cache](https://docs.wpvip.com/caching/page-cache/purging/)󠁿
   
 * If needed, methods are available for purging the page cache for specific URLs
   or assets at a specific time or based on specific criteria.

Last updated: November 19, 2025