What Is On-Demand Revalidation for CMS Content?
IntermediateQuick Answer
TL;DR
On-demand revalidation regenerates specific static pages the moment their CMS content changes, triggered by a webhook. Unlike time-based caching, pages update within seconds of a publish event — not on a fixed schedule. This gives you static page performance (fast TTFB, CDN-cached) with near-instant content freshness, without the cost of server-side rendering every request.
Key Takeaways
- Pages regenerate only when their content changes — not on a timer or full rebuild
- Triggered by a CMS webhook fired on publish, update, or delete events
- Eliminates both full rebuild delays and time-based staleness windows
- Next.js implements this via `revalidatePath()` and `revalidateTag()` in route handlers