Full Page Caching and the Deprecation of Dynamic Attributes

Katie Hoesley

Performance is a top priority for modern ecommerce, and BigCommerce is rolling out Full Page Caching to significantly improve Time to First Byte (TTFB) and overall site speed. This update is particularly relevant for developers building on the BigCommerce platform, as it requires the removal of deprecated dynamic attributes from server-side rendering.

What’s Changing

To enable Full Page Caching, pages must be fully static at the server level. As a result, BigCommerce is deprecating dynamic Stencil attributes, with full removal scheduled for June 30, 2025. After this point, these attributes will return only static default values, which could impact functionality for stores relying on them.

Key attributes being deprecated:

  • settings.client_ip_address – Previously returned the shopper's IP address. Developers should now use a client-side solution like the ipify API.

  • settings.is_eu_ip_address – Previously indicated whether a shopper’s IP was from the EU. Replace this with a client-side geolocation API, such as IP Geolocation API or IPinfo.io.

  • settings.region_code – Previously returned the shopper’s region code based on IP geolocation. Replace this with a service like IPinfo.io or similar. (Note: we still will provide settings.country_code if it happens to be a usable replacement for the settings.region_code.)

  • settings.request.is_crawler – Previously identified bot traffic. Developers should transition to a client-side bot detection library like isbot.

  • settings.request.user_agent – Previously provided the user agent string of the request. Use navigator.userAgent in JavaScript as a replacement.

How This Impacts Full Page Caching

Until these attributes are removed, stores using them will not be eligible for Full Page Caching. Once the attributes return static values in June 2025, caching will be enabled, but functionality relying on them will likely break unless updates are made. To ensure your store benefits from the improved performance, update your implementations as soon as possible.

By proactively adopting client-side solutions, developers can ensure compatibility with BigCommerce’s performance improvements while maintaining necessary functionality. For further guidance, check the documentation for your preferred geolocation or bot detection solution and test updates thoroughly before deployment.

BigCommerce is committed to providing a high-performance, scalable platform, and we appreciate your efforts in adapting to these changes.

What Developers Need to Do

If your theme or custom scripts rely on these attributes, you must update your code to use client-side alternatives before June 2025 to maintain functionality. Specifically:

  • Audit your theme and Script Manager for any use of these attributes.

  • Update any affected scripts to use client-side APIs or JavaScript-based detection methods.

  • Ensure that your updates do not introduce significant performance regressions.

What’s next?

If you have already audited your theme and Script Manager and determined that these attributes are either unnecessary or have implemented suitable client-side alternatives, you may request Full Page Cache enablement for specific stores prior to June 30, 2025 by filling out this form!