How do I change the speed of my Prerender render queue?

TL;DR

Prerender has two rendering queues—Manual/API (which you can speed up) and Automated (which you can slow down indirectly via cache expiration). To change Manual/API speed, use the /change-recache-speed API endpoint. Confirm a safe target speed with your infrastructure team first to avoid triggering firewall or DOS protection.

When you might want to change your render queue speed

There are two common reasons:

• Speed up your Manual/API queue when you need a large batch of URLs cached in time for a promotion, sale, or content launch.
• Slow down your Automated queue when Prerender is sending too many requests per day and your servers, firewall, or DOS protection are struggling to keep up. This usually happens when you have a large cache combined with a short cache expiration setting.

Step 1: Identify which queue you need to change

Decide which queue applies to your situation before going further. The methods are different and they're not interchangeable.

You can directly adjust the Manual/API queue speed. The Automated queue speed is set by Prerender based on your cached page count and cache expiration—you influence it indirectly by changing cache expiration.

Step 2: Check your current rendering speed in your dashboard

Log in to your Prerender dashboard and open Caching Queue from the left navigation. Your current rendering speed is displayed at the top of the queue view.

Note the current speed before requesting a change—support will ask for it, and you'll need it to verify the change took effect later.

Step 3: Confirm a safe target speed with your infrastructure team

Before requesting a faster speed, ask your development or infrastructure team how many URLs per day your servers can safely handle.

Bring this answer with you when you contact support or call the API—it's the first thing you'll be asked.

Step 4: Change your Manual/API queue speed

You have two paths:

Call the /change-recache-speed API endpoint. The full request format, required parameters, and authentication details are in the Prerender REST API reference. Substitute YOUR_TOKEN for your Prerender API token.

Email support@prerender.io with the target speed and the four details listed at the bottom of this article. Our Support team will make the change manually.

Step 5: (Optional) Slow down your Automated queue via cache expiration

If your goal is to reduce Prerender's request volume rather than increase it, you don't change queue speed directly—you increase your cache expiration. A longer cache expiration means Prerender refreshes each page less often, so the total daily request count drops.

Open the Cache Manager in your dashboard, go to Cache Manager, and increase the cache expiration value. Save your changes.

Step 6: Verify the new speed has taken effect

Return to Caching Queue in your dashboard and compare the displayed queue speed to the value you noted in Step 2.

• Manual/API queue: the change should appear within a few minutes of the API call or support's reply.
• Automated queue: the daily request count will adjust gradually as pages expire under the new setting—expect it to settle over the next 24–48 hours.

What to include when you contact support

Speed up your support request by including these four details upfront:

• Your current cache expiration setting
• The approximate number of URLs in your cache
• Any infrastructure issues you've already seen (firewall triggers, server load spikes)
• Which queue you're changing—Manual/API or Automated

Related articles

• Rendering queues
• What can I do with the Prerender REST API?
• How cache expiration works in Prerender.io
• What should I do if I am experiencing high volumes of unwanted renders?