Search engines and social previews often cannot run the interactive JavaScript in a typical Caffeine app. Caffeine keeps a ready-made snapshot of each public page for those visitors, so your live app can appear in search results without any extra setup or extra credits.
What Caffeine does for search engines
Every live Caffeine app includes this automatically. When a search engine or similar crawler requests a page, Caffeine can serve a static snapshot of that page instead of the empty loading shell a crawler might otherwise see.
People using a normal browser still get the live, interactive app. The snapshot is only for crawlers.
This applies to the apps you publish — including on a custom domain. You do not turn it on, and it does not use build or Go Live credits.
How snapshots stay up to date
Caffeine saves a snapshot the first time a crawler requests that page. The snapshot stays in use for 15 days.
After 15 days, the next crawler request still gets the existing snapshot immediately, and Caffeine refreshes it in the background. You do not need to take any action.
Only pages that crawlers actually visit are snapshotted. A page that never receives a crawler request will not have a snapshot yet.
What this does not cover
- Password-protected live URLs. If the live site is locked with password protection, crawlers hit the password gate and cannot index the app. Leave live protection off if you want the site in search results.
- Pages that require sign-in. Content behind login is not something search engines should index.
- Draft URLs. Drafts are for you and collaborators, not for public search.
- The first crawler visit to a new URL. That first request may see the live page before a snapshot is ready. Later crawler visits use the snapshot.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to set this up?
No. It is included with your published app.
Does this cost credits?
No. Snapshots do not use build credits, Go Live credits, or any other credit charge.
How often is each page refreshed?
A saved snapshot is treated as current for 15 days. After that, it is refreshed automatically the next time a crawler requests that URL. Pages that crawlers never revisit are not refreshed on a schedule.
Will my latest Go Live show up in search right away?
Not necessarily. Search engines decide when to recrawl. Once they request a URL again after the 15-day window, Caffeine updates the snapshot. You can still share your live URL immediately — visitors in a browser always see the current live app.
Can I force a refresh myself?
There is no setting for that. Caffeine refreshes a page when a crawler requests it after the snapshot is older than 15 days.
Does this work with a custom domain?
Yes. Snapshots follow the public URL crawlers use, including a connected custom domain.