Configure cache frontends

Last update: Mon Mar 09 2026 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)

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A cache frontend is an interface between Commerce and the cache storage backend. You can define multiple frontends, each with different backend settings, and then assign specific cache types to each frontend.

This is useful when you want to use different cache backends or configurations for different types of cached data. For example, you might want full_page caching on a dedicated Redis database while using a separate database for default caching.

Use the default frontend

Commerce provides a default cache frontend that works for all cache types. It extends Zend_Cache_Core by implementing the Magento\Framework\Cache\Core frontend cache.

In most cases, you do not need to customize the frontend. You only need to configure the backend. See Cache backend options.

Define a custom cache frontend

The following steps walk through associating a cache frontend with a cache type.

Step 1: Define a cache frontend and assign cache types

To define a custom cache frontend, add the configuration to app/etc/env.php (which overrides di.xml):

'cache' => [
    'frontend' => [
        '<unique frontend id>' => [
             <cache options>
        ],
    ],
    'type' => [
         <cache type 1> => [
             'frontend' => '<unique frontend id>'
        ],
         <cache type 2> => [
             'frontend' => '<unique frontend id>'
        ],
    ],
],

Where:

<unique frontend id> – A unique name to identify the frontend (for example, default, page_cache, stale_cache_enabled)
<cache options> – Backend type and options for this frontend (see Cache options)
<cache type> – A Commerce cache type to assign to this frontend (for example, config, layout, block_html, full_page)

TIP

Modern Symfony Cache implementation (2.4.9+): Starting with Commerce 2.4.9, you can use simplified backend types like redis, valkey, or file with the modern Symfony Cache implementation. See Use Redis for default cache and Use Valkey for default cache for details.

Step 2: Configure frontend and backend options

You can specify frontend and backend cache configuration options in env.php or di.xml. This task is optional. If you do not specify options, Commerce uses the default frontend and backend settings.

env.php example:

'frontend' => <frontend_type>,
'frontend_options' => [
    <frontend_option> => <frontend_option_value>,
    ...
],
'backend' => <backend_type>,
'backend_options' => [
    <backend_option> => <backend_option_value>,
    ...
],

Where:

<frontend_type> – The low-level frontend cache type. Specify a class name compatible with Zend\Cache\Core.
If omitted, Magento\Framework\Cache\Core is used.
<frontend_option>, <frontend_option_value> – The name and value of options the Commerce framework passes as an associative array to the frontend cache on creation.
<backend_type> – The low-level backend cache type. You can specify:
- Modern Symfony Cache (2.4.9+, recommended): Simplified names like redis, valkey, or file
- Legacy (Zend-based): Full class name compatible with Zend_Cache_Backend that implements Zend_Cache_Backend_Interface
<backend_option>, <backend_option_value> – The name and value of options the Commerce framework passes as an associative array to the backend cache on creation.

NOTE

Legacy vs Modern implementation:

Legacy (Zend-based): 'backend' => 'Magento\\Framework\\Cache\\Backend\\Redis'
Modern (Symfony Cache): 'backend' => 'redis' (recommended for Commerce 2.4.9+)

The modern Symfony Cache implementation provides better performance through PSR-6 compliance, Igbinary serialization, gzip compression, Lua scripts, and persistent connections.

See the Laminas documentation for Zend-based options, or the modern Symfony Cache guides for Redis and Valkey.

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