--- title: Creating an ASP.NET MVC OutputCache ActionFilterAttribute description: A walkthrough shows how to build a custom OutputCache ActionFilterAttribute for ASP.NET MVC (preview 3), since the classic OutputCache directive doesn't work... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/creating-an-asp-net-mvc-outputcache-actionfilterattribute-sujvthdg5 twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Creating an ASP.NET MVC OutputCache ActionFilterAttribute | daily.dev og:description: A walkthrough shows how to build a custom OutputCache ActionFilterAttribute for ASP.NET MVC (preview 3), since the classic OutputCache directive doesn't work... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/creating-an-asp-net-mvc-outputcache-actionfilterattribute-sujvthdg5 og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/suJvtHdG5.png og:image:alt: Creating an ASP.NET MVC OutputCache ActionFilterAttribute og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Creating an ASP.NET MVC OutputCache ActionFilterAttribute **[Maarten Balliauw](https://daily.dev/sources/maartenballiauw)** · 5 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary A walkthrough shows how to build a custom OutputCache ActionFilterAttribute for ASP.NET MVC (preview 3), since the classic OutputCache directive doesn't work in MVC views. It covers client-side caching via HTTP cache headers and server-side caching by swapping the HttpContext with a StringWriter-backed response, storing rendered output keyed by controller, action, and VaryByParam values. Full source code is provided as a downloadable sample. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### How do I implement output caching in ASP.NET MVC since the OutputCache directive doesn't work in views? Create a custom ActionFilterAttribute that overrides OnActionExecuted for client-side caching (setting HTTP cache headers like SetCacheability, SetExpires, and SetMaxAge) and OnResultExecuting/OnResultExecuted for server-side caching, which swaps the HttpContext with a StringWriter-backed response to capture and store rendered HTML in the Cache object keyed by controller, action, and parameters. _Browsing daily.dev surfaces patterns like this when wiring up caching in older ASP.NET MVC codebases._ ### How can I vary cached output by request parameters in a custom ASP.NET MVC output cache implementation? Generate a cache key that combines the controller's full type name, the action name from route data, and each route parameter matching a VaryByParam list (or all parameters when VaryByParam is set to "*"). This produces distinct cache entries per parameter combination, mirroring the VaryByParam behavior of the classic ASP.NET OutputCache directive. _Developers comparing caching strategies often track implementation details like this through daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Implementing RFC-compliant HTTP caching for HttpClient in .NET](https://daily.dev/posts/implementing-rfc-compliant-http-caching-for-httpclient-in-net-ckf4syuwc) · Meziantou · 5 upvotes · 1 comments - [ASP.NET Core Controllers: A Practical Guide to Building REST Endpoints](https://daily.dev/posts/asp-net-core-controllers-a-practical-guide-to-building-rest-endpoints-qbrdx5rqi) · We Are .NET · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [The silent filter: How an ASP.NET MVC quirk became a security leak](https://daily.dev/posts/the-silent-filter-how-an-asp-net-mvc-quirk-became-a-security-leak-wec0w8625) · The Art of Simplicity · 2 upvotes · 0 comments - [Api Key Authentication in ASP.NET Core](https://daily.dev/posts/api-key-authentication-in-asp-net-core-5jr6dwwxq) · We Are .NET · 3 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#c#](https://daily.dev/tags/c#) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/creating-an-asp-net-mvc-outputcache-actionfilterattribute-sujvthdg5) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Creating an ASP.NET MVC OutputCache ActionFilterAttribute","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/creating-an-asp-net-mvc-outputcache-actionfilterattribute-sujvthdg5","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/creating-an-asp-net-mvc-outputcache-actionfilterattribute-sujvthdg5"},"datePublished":"2026-10-04T13:06:13.515Z","dateModified":"2026-10-04T13:16:38.977Z","description":"A walkthrough shows how to build a custom OutputCache ActionFilterAttribute for ASP.NET MVC (preview 3), since the classic OutputCache directive doesn't work...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/5dff34ac40ae566c5b529bdb553eeea6?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/5dff34ac40ae566c5b529bdb553eeea6?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"Maarten Balliauw","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Maarten Balliauw","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--rOTg3VYO--/f_auto,q_auto/v1791119043/logos/maartenballiauw?_a=BAMAMicg0","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/maartenballiauw"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/creating-an-asp-net-mvc-outputcache-actionfilterattribute-sujvthdg5","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"c#","timeRequired":"PT5M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Maarten Balliauw","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/maartenballiauw"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Creating an ASP.NET MVC OutputCache ActionFilterAttribute"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/creating-an-asp-net-mvc-outputcache-actionfilterattribute-sujvthdg5#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"How do I implement output caching in ASP.NET MVC since the OutputCache directive doesn't work in views?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Create a custom ActionFilterAttribute that overrides OnActionExecuted for client-side caching (setting HTTP cache headers like SetCacheability, SetExpires, and SetMaxAge) and OnResultExecuting/OnResultExecuted for server-side caching, which swaps the HttpContext with a StringWriter-backed response to capture and store rendered HTML in the Cache object keyed by controller, action, and parameters. 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