# Full page static caching

> Speed up your Statamic site by serving pre-rendered static HTML pages to visitors.

Full page static caching
-------------------------

Statamic's full page static caching generates static HTML files for your pages and serves them directly without running PHP. This dramatically improves response times and reduces server load for content-heavy sites.

When enabled, Statamic saves a static HTML copy of each page the first time it's visited. Subsequent visitors receive the pre-rendered HTML file instead of waiting for PHP to process the request.

### How it works on Ploi Cloud

To enable full page static caching, you need to set an environment secret and add a custom nginx configuration. Once configured, your application will serve pre-rendered HTML files from a `/static` directory for GET requests, while non-GET requests and live preview sessions bypass the cache.

### Step 1: Add the secret

1. Navigate to your application's settings page
2. Go to the "Environment secrets" section
3. Add a new secret with key `STATAMIC_STATIC_CACHING_STRATEGY` and value `full`
4. Save your changes

### Step 2: Add custom nginx configuration

Add a custom nginx configuration to serve static files for GET requests and bypass the cache for other request types:

1. Navigate to your application's "Security" tab
2. Expand the "Custom nginx configuration" section
3. Paste the following configuration:

```nginx
set $try_location @static;

if ($request_method != GET) {
    set $try_location @not_static;
}

if ($args ~* "live-preview=(.*)") {
    set $try_location @not_static;
}

location @static {
    try_files /static${uri}_$args.html $uri $uri/ /index.php?$args;
}

location @not_static {
    try_files $uri /index.php?$args;
}
```

4. Save your settings

This configuration ensures that:

- **GET requests** are served from the static cache when available
- **POST, PUT, DELETE and other requests** bypass the cache and go directly to PHP
- **Live preview requests** from the Statamic control panel always serve fresh content

### Step 3: Configure Statamic

In your Statamic configuration file (`config/statamic/static_caching.php`), set the strategy to `full`:

```php
'strategy' => env('STATAMIC_STATIC_CACHING_STRATEGY', null),
```

You can also configure which URLs should be excluded from caching using the `exclude` array in the same configuration file.

### Step 4: Deploy

Deploy your application to apply the changes. Both the secret and the nginx configuration take effect after deployment.