NestJS Caching

Caching in NestJS can be achieved through two distinct approaches: the built-in CacheModule with CacheInterceptor, or manual integration with Redis via ioredis.

Built-in approach (CacheModule)

NestJS provides a store-agnostic caching layer via @nestjs/common:

• Import CacheModule.register() with a Redis store adapter (cache-manager-redis-store).
• Use @UseInterceptors(CacheInterceptor) for automatic HTTP response caching on @Get() routes.
• Customize per-endpoint with @CacheKey() and @CacheTTL().
• Inject CACHE_MANAGER for manual get()/set()/del()/reset() operations.

Sources: How to add Redis cache to a NestJS app

Manual ioredis approach

For full control over Redis, build a custom service:

• Create a FactoryProvider Pattern to instantiate a singleton ioredis client.
• Layer a Redis Repository Pattern with Redis Prefix Key Naming for clean separation.
• Implement the Cache-aside Pattern in domain services: check cache → query DB on miss → populate cache.
• Use OnModuleInit/OnModuleDestroy lifecycle hooks for connection management.
• Set appropriate TTL values per data type (10 min for tokens, 30 min for products, 1 day for reference data).

Sources: Using Redis Client in NestJS

Choosing an approach

Factor	CacheModule	Manual ioredis
Boilerplate	Low	Medium-high
Redis feature access	Limited	Full
Decorator support	Yes	No
Backend portability	Yes	No
Testing	Built-in mocking	Manual mocking
Production readiness	Good for simple caching	Good for any Redis use case