Laravel
cache
performance

Serve stale data with Cache::flexible()

flexible() returns a fresh value while it is young, serves the old one and rebuilds in the background during a grace window, and only blocks once that window has passed.

October 17, 20261 min read

Cache::remember has one mode: fresh or rebuild now. Since Laravel 11.23, Cache::flexible has two timers.

$posts = Cache::flexible('posts.latest', [300, 3600], function () {
    return Post::latest()->take(5)->get();
});

Under 5 minutes old: returned as is.
Between 5 and 60 minutes: the stale value is returned at once, and the rebuild runs after the response has been sent.
Over 60 minutes: rebuilt inline, like remember.

Nobody waits for the rebuild as long as the key is touched now and then. It fits lists, counters and dashboards where a few minutes of lag is fine, and not a seat count or a balance.

New

Laravel
cache
concurrency

Lock the rebuild, not the read

Wrap the expensive rebuild in Cache::lock() so one request fills the key while the others wait a moment and read the result.

Published on: October 19, 2026

1 min read New

Laravel
eloquent
performance
database

Use chunkById() when the loop changes the rows it reads

chunk() pages with OFFSET, so updating a row that leaves the WHERE clause shifts the next page and skips rows. chunkById() pages by the primary key and does not.

Published on: October 14, 2026

1 min read