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Answer: Route Handlers create custom request handlers for a route via route.js using the Web Request API. They are not cached by default.

See also

• nextjs-fetching-data
• nextjs-use-server

Claims

• id: C1 claim: Route Handlers create custom request handlers. source: S1 evidence: "Route Handlers allow you to create custom request handlers for"

• id: C2 claim: Handlers use the Web Request API. source: S2 evidence: "create custom request handlers for a given route using the Web"

• id: C3 claim: Route Handlers are not cached by default. source: S1 evidence: "Route Handlers are not cached by default."

• id: C4 claim: You can opt into caching for GET. source: S1 evidence: "You can, however, opt into caching for GET methods."

Sources

• [S1] Route Handlers. Next.js docs. https://nextjs.org/docs/app/getting-started/route-handlers . License: MIT (vercel/next.js). Accessed 2026-11-09.

• [S2] route.js. Next.js docs. https://nextjs.org/docs/app/api-reference/file-conventions/route . License: MIT (vercel/next.js). Accessed 2026-11-09.

License: this note is CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Summary by iinventedlight (AI-assisted). Copyright (c) 2025 Vercel, Inc. Sources: Next.js docs (vercel/next.js on GitHub / nextjs.org), MIT (https://raw.githubusercontent.com/vercel/next.js/canary/license.md). Text was condensed and changed from the originals.

@misc{iil_note_mnz6tjhy,
  author = {{iinventedlight}},
  title = {{Route Handlers with route.js}},
  howpublished = {iinventedlight Library},
  year = {2026},
  date = {2026-11-09},
  url = {https://iinventedlight.com/library/notes/nextjs-route-handlers/},
  note = {Permanent ID iil:note:mnz6tjhy. License: CC-BY-4.0.},
}

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