Why are my pages not recaching on schedule?

 TL;DR

Prerender.io recaches pages based on your cache expiration setting, but the automated queue processes pages at a rate determined by your total cached URLs divided by your expiration period. If you have more pages than your plan can process in one cycle, some pages will fall behind. Check your recache math, look for non-200 responses silently dropping pages, and make sure your sitemap is not flooding the priority queue.

Why this matters

Stale cached pages mean AI crawlers and search engines receive outdated content. If your product pages, pricing, or metadata changed but the cache still serves the old version, your site loses accuracy in AI-generated answers and search results. Understanding how the recache queue works lets you tune your settings to keep your most important pages fresh.

How recaching works

Prerender.io uses two queues to manage rendering:

• Priority queue. Processes URLs submitted via the recache API, sitemap discovery, and manual Cache Manager additions. Handled first, in submission order.
• Automated queue. Processes pages that have passed their cache expiration. Oldest cached pages are recached first.

The automated queue is where most "not refreshing on schedule" issues occur. It is not instant. It works through your cached pages continuously, but the speed depends on how many pages you have and how short your expiration is set.

The recache rate formula

Your daily recache volume follows this formula:

Daily recache volume = Total cached pages / Cache expiration (in days)

For example, if you have 30,000 cached pages and a 3-day cache expiration, Prerender.io needs to recache roughly 10,000 pages per day (about 417 per hour) just to keep up. If your plan's rendering allocation cannot sustain that rate, the queue falls behind and some pages will be recached later than expected.

Common causes

1. Cache expiration is too aggressive for your page count

This is the most common cause. A short expiration (6 to 12 hours) on a large site means Prerender.io must recache thousands of pages per day. If the volume exceeds your plan's throughput, the queue backs up.

What to check: Go to Cache Manager and look at the total number of cached URLs. Then divide by your cache expiration in days. Compare that number against your plan's monthly render allocation divided by 30.

Fix: Increase your cache expiration to a realistic interval for your site's update frequency. Most sites do not change content every 6 hours. A 3 to 7 day expiration is appropriate for pages that update weekly. Reserve shorter expirations for pages with genuinely dynamic content.

2. Sitemap is flooding the priority queue

The priority queue processes sitemap URLs before the automated queue. If you have a large sitemap (tens of thousands of URLs) and a short recrawl interval, each recrawl adds any newly discovered URLs to the priority queue. This can delay automated recaching of existing pages.

What to check: Look at your sitemap size and recrawl frequency. If your sitemap has 50,000+ URLs and recrawls daily, the priority queue may be consuming most of your rendering capacity.

Fix: Keep your sitemap clean. Remove URLs that return non-200 responses. If you have a very large sitemap, consider increasing the recrawl interval or splitting your sitemap into smaller files so Prerender.io processes them more efficiently.

3. Manual recache requests are stuck

If you trigger a manual recache from Cache Manager or the recache API and the page does not update, the request may be queued behind other priority queue items. Manual recache is not instant. It enters the priority queue and is processed in order.

What to check: After submitting a manual recache, check the Render History page. If the URL appears with a recent timestamp, the recache succeeded. If it does not appear, the request may still be in the queue.

Fix: Wait for the queue to process. If the page still shows stale content after an hour, check whether the URL returns a 200 response by opening it in a browser.

4. Cache expiration change does not trigger immediate recaching

Changing your cache expiration setting does not force an immediate recache of all pages. The new expiration applies after each URL's next scheduled recache cycle. If a page was last cached 2 days ago and you change the expiration from 7 days to 3 days, that page will be recached when the automated queue reaches it based on the new 3-day schedule, not immediately.

Fix: If you need immediate recaching after changing your expiration, use the recache API or manually recache critical URLs through Cache Manager.

5. Plan throughput limits

Each plan has a monthly rendering allocation. If your automated and priority queue demand exceeds your plan's capacity, recaching slows down across the board.

What to check: Go to your Prerender.io dashboard and check your monthly render usage. If you are consistently near or at your limit, your recache rate is being throttled.

Fix: Upgrade your plan, increase your cache expiration to reduce recache volume, or remove low-value URLs from your cache to free up capacity for important pages.

Quick diagnostic checklist

Use this checklist when pages are not recaching on time:

1. Check your recache math. Total cached pages divided by cache expiration in days. Can your plan handle that daily volume?
2. Check your sitemap. Is it large and recrawling frequently? It may be consuming priority queue capacity.
3. Check render usage. Are you near your monthly limit? Throughput may be throttled.
4. Check Cache Manager. Look at the "Last cached" column. Are all pages delayed, or only some?

Related articles

• How the Cache Manager works
• Rendering queues
• Status codes
• Why is my sitemap marked as "Unhealthy" or failing to crawl?