Catalyst version 1.2 Release Notes
We are excited to announce the release of Catalyst v1.2, which brings a significant performance boost for Vercel-hosted Catalyst storefronts, a new Next.js version, and other improvements.
Next.js 15.5
Catalyst v1.2 has been updated to Next.js 15.5 (opens in a new tab). This upgrade brings the latest advancements from the Next.js framework, including improved TypeScript tooling, and stable Node.js middleware. Developers can now leverage the newest features and performance optimizations offered by Next.js 15.5 directly within Catalyst.
Performance Improvements with Runtime Cache
We have implemented Vercel Runtime Cache (opens in a new tab) to significantly boost application performance, particularly for the with-routes middleware (opens in a new tab). Previously, caching for this middleware required an extra KV dependency in order to optimize the performance. Now, using Runtime Cache, we have removed the need for any 3rd-party dependencies when hosting on Vercel, and response time is greatly improved, especially TTFB.
Here's an example of a performance test showing a <100ms TTFB when using Runtime Cache:
https://www.webpagetest.org/result/250823_YiDcD5_51T/ (opens in a new tab)
The same storefront achieves these TTFB results even internationally, in Sydney:
https://www.webpagetest.org/result/250823_YiDc8D_67P/ (opens in a new tab)
This gives the best of both worlds for Catalyst users—freedom to use any URLs they like for their products, even URLs that live directly on the root—with no requirement to prefix them with something like /p/ as you would need with typical Next.js apps. With this Runtime Cache release, there is now no performance penalty for this benefit nor any additional complexity when hosting on Vercel.
For other hosting environments such as Docker deployments, we still recommend using a cache adapter, and we have kept our Upstash adapter around as a nice, compatible option. You may also choose to implement a direct Redis adapter, which is now possible with support for Node.js middleware in Next 15.5 (opens in a new tab). We may provide one natively in a future release.
As the adapter for Vercel KV is no longer needed, it has been removed. After upgrading to this release, you can remove Vercel KV or Upstash from your Vercel project, unless you’re using them for other purposes outside of this middleware.
Preconnect to checkout origin
Catalyst will now return a rel=”preconnect” link tag on the cart page, to help the browser pre-connect to the checkout origin. This will make redirecting to checkout a little faster. We are exploring additional options to improve the performance of the checkout redirect in future releases.
Makeswift Runtime Upgraded to 0.25.0 to enable Share Links
The Makeswift Runtime has been bumped to 0.25.0 (opens in a new tab) in order to unlock compatibility with Next.js 15.5, which provides auto-generated types for routes and pages. Runtime 0.25.0 also enables Makeswift's new Share Links (opens in a new tab) feature which allows users to share previews of their website's different versions with team members or stakeholders via a shareable link for collaboration and feedback.
Site theme text bug fixed
Fixed a small bug where some CSS variables were incorrectly named causing changes to the site theme to not properly update colors in UI components.
Getting Started
We have published new tags for the Core, Makeswift, and B2B versions of Catalyst. Target these tags to pull the latest code:
@bigcommerce/catalyst-core@1.2.0 (opens in a new tab)
@bigcommerce/catalyst-makeswift@1.2.0 (opens in a new tab)
@bigcommerce/catalyst-b2b-buyer-portal@1.2.0 (opens in a new tab)
And as always, you can pull the latest stable release with these tags:
@bigcommerce/catalyst-core@latest (opens in a new tab)
@bigcommerce/catalyst-makeswift@latest (opens in a new tab)
@bigcommerce/catalyst-b2b-buyer-portal@latest (opens in a new tab)