Next.js `cacheComponents`: cannot prefetch and access query data underneath `'use cache'`

[mdj-uk]

Describe the bug

In the repro (based on prefetching example but with next canary and experimental.cacheComponents enabled) I

• call await queryClient.prefetchQuery(...) in a server component marked 'use cache'
• dehydrate query client and pass to client component
• access query data with useQuery

It results in this server error:

## Error Type
Console Error

## Error Message
Route "/" used `Date.now()` inside a Client Component without a Suspense boundary above it. See more info here: https://nextjs.org/docs/messages/next-prerender-current-time-client


    at PokemonInfo (app/pokemon-info.tsx:7:28)
    at LogSafely (unknown:0:0)

## Code Frame
   5 |
   6 | export function PokemonInfo() {
>  7 |   const { data } = useQuery(pokemonOptions);
     |                            ^
   8 |   if (!data) return <div>No data</div>;
   9 |   return (
  10 |     <div>

Next.js version: 15.4.2-canary.16 (Webpack)

If I run the next dev server with debugging there's a more helpful stack trace in the debug console:

Error: Route "/" used `Date.now()` inside a Client Component without a Suspense boundary above it. See more info here: https://nextjs.org/docs/messages/next-prerender-current-time-client
    at io (/project/workspace/node_modules/.pnpm/next@15.4.2-canary.16_react-dom@19.1.0_react@19.1.0/node_modules/next/dist/server/node-environment-extensions/utils.js:78:146)
    at now (/project/workspace/node_modules/.pnpm/next@15.4.2-canary.16_react-dom@19.1.0_react@19.1.0/node_modules/next/dist/server/node-environment-extensions/date.js:19:27)
    at timeUntilStale (webpack-internal:///(ssr)/./node_modules/.pnpm/@tanstack+query-core@5.83.0/node_modules/@tanstack/query-core/build/modern/utils.js:39:55)
    at Query.isStaleByTime (webpack-internal:///(ssr)/./node_modules/.pnpm/@tanstack+query-core@5.83.0/node_modules/@tanstack/query-core/build/modern/query.js:115:70)
    at isStale (webpack-internal:///(ssr)/./node_modules/.pnpm/@tanstack+query-core@5.83.0/node_modules/@tanstack/query-core/build/modern/queryObserver.js:454:111)
    at shouldFetchOn (webpack-internal:///(ssr)/./node_modules/.pnpm/@tanstack+query-core@5.83.0/node_modules/@tanstack/query-core/build/modern/queryObserver.js:446:53)
    at shouldFetchOnMount (webpack-internal:///(ssr)/./node_modules/.pnpm/@tanstack+query-core@5.83.0/node_modules/@tanstack/query-core/build/modern/queryObserver.js:441:78)
    at QueryObserver.createResult (webpack-internal:///(ssr)/./node_modules/.pnpm/@tanstack+query-core@5.83.0/node_modules/@tanstack/query-core/build/modern/queryObserver.js:245:40)
    at QueryObserver.updateResult (webpack-internal:///(ssr)/./node_modules/.pnpm/@tanstack+query-core@5.83.0/node_modules/@tanstack/query-core/build/modern/queryObserver.js:371:29)
    at QueryObserver.setOptions (webpack-internal:///(ssr)/./node_modules/.pnpm/@tanstack+query-core@5.83.0/node_modules/@tanstack/query-core/build/modern/queryObserver.js:116:10)
    at new QueryObserver (webpack-internal:///(ssr)/./node_modules/.pnpm/@tanstack+query-core@5.83.0/node_modules/@tanstack/query-core/build/modern/queryObserver.js:31:10)
    at useBaseQuery.useState (webpack-internal:///(ssr)/./node_modules/.pnpm/@tanstack+react-query@5.83.0_react@19.1.0/node_modules/@tanstack/react-query/build/modern/useBaseQuery.js:43:38)
    at useReducer (/project/workspace/node_modules/.pnpm/next@15.4.2-canary.16_react-dom@19.1.0_react@19.1.0/node_modules/next/dist/compiled/next-server/app-page-experimental.runtime.dev.js:2:86580)
    at Object.useState (/project/workspace/node_modules/.pnpm/next@15.4.2-canary.16_react-dom@19.1.0_react@19.1.0/node_modules/next/dist/compiled/next-server/app-page-experimental.runtime.dev.js:2:316482)
    at exports.useState (/project/workspace/node_modules/.pnpm/next@15.4.2-canary.16_react-dom@19.1.0_react@19.1.0/node_modules/next/dist/compiled/next-server/app-page-experimental.runtime.dev.js:2:392162)
    at useBaseQuery (webpack-internal:///(ssr)/./node_modules/.pnpm/@tanstack+react-query@5.83.0_react@19.1.0/node_modules/@tanstack/react-query/build/modern/useBaseQuery.js:42:59)
    at useQuery (webpack-internal:///(ssr)/./node_modules/.pnpm/@tanstack+react-query@5.83.0_react@19.1.0/node_modules/@tanstack/react-query/build/modern/useQuery.js:11:74)
    at PokemonInfo (webpack-internal:///(ssr)/./app/pokemon-info.tsx:13:85)
    ...

The error in next build output looks equivalent:

Error: Route "/" used `Date.now()` inside a Client Component without a Suspense boundary above it. See more info here: https://nextjs.org/docs/messages/next-prerender-current-time-client
    at h (.next/server/chunks/300.js:1:125321)
    at h.isStaleByTime (.next/server/chunks/300.js:1:47258)
    at n (.next/server/app/page.js:1:43090)
    at l (.next/server/app/page.js:1:42911)
    at k (.next/server/app/page.js:1:42740)
    at j.createResult (.next/server/app/page.js:1:39855)
    at j.updateResult (.next/server/app/page.js:1:41731)
    at j.setOptions (.next/server/app/page.js:1:37851)
    at new j (.next/server/app/page.js:1:36675)
    at <unknown> (.next/server/app/page.js:1:6233)
    at l (.next/server/app/page.js:1:6220)
    at g (.next/server/app/page.js:2:9093)
    at g (.next/server/app/page.js:1:3551)

Your minimal, reproducible example

https://codesandbox.io/p/github/mdj-uk/nextjs-prefetch/main

Steps to reproduce

• open sandbox
• open preview (of port 3000) and load home page

Expected behavior

Should be able to prefetch in server component marked 'use cache' and render query data in client component in prerender phase without error. (i.e. query data should be in SSG/ISR output)

How often does this bug happen?

Every time

Screenshots or Videos

No response

Platform

N/A

Tanstack Query adapter

react-query

TanStack Query version

v5.83.0

TypeScript version

5.8.3

Additional context

My understanding of cacheComponents (previously dynamicIO):

• cacheComponents forces us to choose between dynamic vs static rendering if we're doing data fetching or accessing the current time. If we don't make a choice, we get the error described in Next.js cacheComponents (dynamicIO) dehydration error #9457. ("Cannot infer intended usage of current time with Date.now(), Date(), or new Date() in a Server Component" when calling dehydrate(queryClient).)
• if we opt for dynamic rendering it's fine (see Next.js cacheComponents (dynamicIO) dehydration error #9457 (comment))
• if we choose static rendering by adding 'use cache' we get the error described here

About this error:

• Note that there's no error if you remove the prefetching, or if you keep the prefetching but remove the component which calls useQuery. It's the combination of prefetching + useQuery underneath 'use cache' which causes the problem
• I can make the error go away by wrapping PokemonInfo in a suspense boundary with fallback, but that doesn't help as it bails out of server rendering thePokemonInfo and renders the fallback instead (You'll need to run next build and next start to see this).
• If I await the prefetch (as in the repro) then I get the same error with useQuery and useSuspenseQuery
• If I call useSuspenseQuery and don't await the prefetching (as per the original prefetching example) I get the same error as above when running next build. But there's a different error with next dev. The dev error is confusing as it doesn't provide a stack trace, and it tells you to add 'use cache' which is already there:
  • "Error: Route "/": A component accessed data, headers, params, searchParams, or a short-lived cache without a Suspense boundary nor a "use cache" above it. See more info: https://nextjs.org/docs/messages/next-prerender-missing-suspense"

[joseph0926]

Looking at the Next.js use cache implementation, it uses performance.now() instead of Date.now() for time measurements (source 1, source 2).
This approach measures cache duration from a fixed reference point (process/build start time) rather than using dynamic wall-clock time.

React Query, on the other hand, internally uses Date.now() for its stale time calculations, which creates a fundamental incompatibility with Next.js's experimental use cache directive. The use cache directive aims to create deterministic, cacheable results by restricting dynamic values.

Unfortunately, in my personal opinion, this means the desired workflow of "build-time static generation + server-side prefetch + client-side React Query features" isn't currently achievable with use cache.

I also considered whether React Query could detect the use cache context and switch to using performance.now() only in that environment. However, this would be technically challenging, There's no reliable way for React Query to detect if it's running within a use cache context and philosophically misaligned, use cache measures "time from a fixed starting point," while React Query measures "time from now until X" - these are fundamentally different approaches to time management

[TkDodo]

yeah so we need timeUntilStale to figure out if a query is stale, depending on when it was fetched the last time, which compares with the dataUpdatedAt timestamp. This also is a timestamp generated with Date.now() when a fetch succeeds:

query/packages/query-core/src/query.ts

Line 613 in 0991576

dataUpdatedAt: action.dataUpdatedAt ?? Date.now(),

I think what would probably help, judging from the stacktrace, if you set staleTime: 'static', because with a static staleTime, we bail out early and never reach timeUntilStale :

query/packages/query-core/src/query.ts

Lines 302 to 311 in 0991576

	// static is never stale
	if (staleTime === 'static') {
	return false
	}
	// if the query is invalidated, it is stale
	if (this.state.isInvalidated) {
	return true
	}
	return !timeUntilStale(this.state.dataUpdatedAt, staleTime)

I have tried out the sandbox with staleTime: 'static' and that makes the error go away. I think this also matches expectations: If you want statically pre-rendered data on the server, I can’t have a “dynamic” staleTime. If you still want the static handover on the client, I think you could set staleTime differently depending on your environment. We do export an isServer helper for that:

staleTime: isServer ? 'static' : 0,

An argument could made that react query should do this internally - set staleTime: 'static' per default when on the server, as we do something similar for gcTime:

query/packages/query-core/src/removable.ts

Lines 22 to 26 in 1d3ee67

	// Default to 5 minutes (Infinity for server-side) if no gcTime is set
	this.gcTime = Math.max(
	this.gcTime || 0,
	newGcTime ?? (isServer ? Infinity : 5 * 60 * 1000),
	)

As when you are on the server, you probably don’t want multiple prefetches within the same request on the same queryClient to yield multiple fetches. But then again, you can use a queryClient over multiple requests so we can’t change that behaviour in a minor version anyways. Something to think about for v6 maybe.