Sample Nginx config with sane caching settings for modern web development

sane-caching.nginx.conf

# Sample Nginx config with sane caching settings for modern web development
#
# Motivation: 
# Modern web development often happens with developer tools open, e. g. the Chrome Dev Tools. 
# These tools automatically deactivate all sorts of caching for you, so you always have a fresh 
# and juicy version of your assets available.
# At some point, however, you want to show your work to testers, your boss or your client. 
# After you implemented and deployed their feedback, they reload the testing page – and report 
# the exact same issues as before! What happened? Of course, they did not have developer tools 
# open, and of course, they did not empty their caches before navigating to your site. 
# 
# This gist provides you with a sample Nginx config with sane caching settings to prevent the 
# above scenario. 
#
# Specifically, it 
#  - deactivates caching by default, 
#  - allows storing of js and css files, but requires the browser to first check whether newer 
#    versions are available
#  - activates caching for static assets such as images for 5 minutes
# 
# Why to cache at all, you wonder? 
# This gist should highlight the possibilities you have, and might even be used in a beta testing 
# environment with many users yet regular hotfixes. Therefore, I included basic caching for you to 
# be adjusted. 
#
# Further readings: 
# http://www.mobify.com/blog/beginners-guide-to-http-cache-headers/
# https://www.mnot.net/cache_docs/
# http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2616.txt (for a deep dive)

server {
  # .domain.com will match both domain.com and anything.domain.com
  server_name .example.com;
 
  # It is best to place the root of the server block at the server level, and not the location level
  # any location block path will be relative to this root. 
  root /usr/local/www/$server_name;

  # It's always good to set logs, note however you cannot turn off the error log
  # setting error_log off; will simply create a file called 'off'.
  access_log /var/log/nginx/$host.access.log;
  error_log /var/log/nginx/$host.error.log;

  # This can also go in the http { } level
  index index.html index.htm index.php;

  # web app
  location / {
    try_files $uri $uri/ =404;

    # The Expires HTTP header is a basic means of controlling caches; it tells all caches how long 
    # the associated representation is fresh for. After that time, caches will always check back with 
    # the origin server to see if a document is changed.
    #
    # "If a request includes the no-cache directive, it SHOULD NOT include min-fresh, max-stale, or max-age." 
    # (source: http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2616.txt, p114)
    #
    # A negative value means that the response expires immediately.
    # Nginx automatically sets the `Cache-Control: no-cache` header, if `expires` is negative
    #
    expires           -1;
  }

  # this block will catch files that might need to change immediately (e. g. to deploy hotfixes), such as js or css
  # The ?: prefix is a 'non-capturing' mark, meaning we do not require
  # the pattern to be captured into $1 which should help improve performance
  location ~* \.(?:css|js)$ {
    access_log        off;
    log_not_found     off;

    # no-cache:         forces caches to submit the request to the origin server for validation before releasing a 
    #                   cached copy, every time. This is useful to assure that authentication is respected 
    #                   (in combination with public), or to maintain rigid freshness, without sacrificing all of the 
    #                   benefits of caching.
    # 
    # public:           marks authenticated responses as cacheable; normally, if HTTP authentication is required, 
    #                   responses are automatically private.
    #
    # must-revalidate:  tells caches that they must obey any freshness information you give them about a 
    #                   representation. HTTP allows caches to serve stale representations under special conditions;
    #                   by specifying this header, you’re telling the cache that you want it to strictly follow 
    #                   your rules.
    # 
    # proxy-revalidate: similar to must-revalidate, except that it only applies to proxy caches.
    # 
    add_header        Cache-Control "no-cache, public, must-revalidate, proxy-revalidate";
  }

  # This block will catch static file requests, such as images
  # The ?: prefix is a 'non-capturing' mark, meaning we do not require
  # the pattern to be captured into $1 which should help improve performance
  location ~* \.(?:jpg|jpeg|gif|png|ico|xml|webp)$ {
    access_log        off;
    log_not_found     off;

    # The Expires HTTP header is a basic means of controlling caches; it tells all caches how long 
    # the associated representation is fresh for. After that time, caches will always check back with 
    # the origin server to see if a document is changed.
    #
    # "If a request includes the no-cache directive, it SHOULD NOT include min-fresh, max-stale, or max-age." 
    # (source: http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2616.txt, p114)
    #
    # Nginx automatically sets the `Cache-Control: max-age=t` header, if `expires` is present, where t is a time 
    # specified in the directive, in seconds. Shortcuts for time can be used, for example 5m for 5 minutes.
    #
    expires           5m;

    # public:           marks authenticated responses as cacheable; normally, if HTTP authentication is required, 
    #                   responses are automatically private.
    # 
    add_header        Cache-Control "public";
  }
  
  # This block will catch static file requests of fonts and allows fonts to be requested via CORS
  # The ?: prefix is a 'non-capturing' mark, meaning we do not require
  # the pattern to be captured into $1 which should help improve performance
  location ~* \.(?:eot|woff|woff2|ttf|svg|otf) {
    access_log        off;
    log_not_found     off;

    # The Expires HTTP header is a basic means of controlling caches; it tells all caches how long
    # the associated representation is fresh for. After that time, caches will always check back with
    # the origin server to see if a document is changed.
    #
    # "If a request includes the no-cache directive, it SHOULD NOT include min-fresh, max-stale, or max-age."
    # (source: http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2616.txt, p114)
    #
    # Nginx automatically sets the `Cache-Control: max-age=t` header, if `expires` is present, where t is a time
    # specified in the directive, in seconds. Shortcuts for time can be used, for example 5m for 5 minutes.
    #
    expires           5m;

    # public:           marks authenticated responses as cacheable; normally, if HTTP authentication is required,
    #                   responses are automatically private.
    #
    add_header        Cache-Control "public";

    # allow CORS requests
    add_header        Access-Control-Allow-Origin *;

    types     {font/opentype otf;}
    types     {application/vnd.ms-fontobject eot;}
    types     {font/truetype ttf;}
    types     {application/font-woff woff;}
    types     {font/x-woff woff2;}
    types     {image/svg+xml svg svgz;}
  }

  # this prevents hidden files (beginning with a period) from being served
  location ~ /\. { 
    access_log        off; 
    log_not_found     off; 
    deny              all; 
  }
}

Since you used .domain.com to support all subdomains including the main domain, you should use $server_name for root, access_log, and error_log as well. This makes your configuration more dynamic.

root /usr/local/www/$server_name;

access_log /var/log/nginx/$server_name.access.log;
error_log /var/log/nginx/$server_name.error.log;

Since you used .domain.com to support all subdomains including the main domain, you should use $server_name for root, access_log, and error_log as well. This makes your configuration more dynamic.

root /usr/local/www/$server_name;

access_log /var/log/nginx/$server_name.access.log;
error_log /var/log/nginx/$server_name.error.log;

Good point, updated. Thanks for the contribution!

@philipstanislaus It seems the only variable that can be used with access_log and error_log is $host, but $server_name works perfectly with root.

Thanks @meness, updated!

@philipstanislaus I had to add types {image/svg+xml svg;} to the SVG location block, in order for SVGs to still be served as images (otherwise Nginx served them as octet-stream).

Noted, thanks @sweoggy

@sweoggy I just run into this issue and won't admit how much time I spent debugging this issue. @philipstanislaus, please edit this gist and add missing svg type. 🙏

Updated the snippet, thanks for the reminder @tomwojcik

Hi @philipstanislaus

Thanks for making this file, it good!

I have an optional addition for the image files, it adds webp format. webp is now supported by Apple since november of 2020 from BigSur onwards so it could be ok to add on default I think.

location ~* \.(?:jpg|jpeg|gif|png|ico|xml|webp)$ {

Thanks again for writing the file !

Added, thanks for the contribution @DiedeGu 👍

Thank you

This is great, thanks.

wow, thank you. Only one question: $server_name var where is defined?

wow, thank you. Only one question: $server_name var where is defined?

Sure, it is defined in line 33 of the snippet: https://gist.github.com/philipstanislaus/654adafad91efb6de230845b5bdeae61#file-sane-caching-nginx-conf-L33