---
title: vcl_hit
summary: null
url: https://www.fastly.com/documentation/reference/vcl/subroutines/hit
---

The built-in `vcl_hit` subroutine is executed when an object has been found in the cache and is available to be delivered to the client.

A hit in cache usually, but not always, means that the object is _fresh_; that is, it is within the TTL set by the origin or within the `vcl_fetch` subroutine. In cases where the object is stale, but is configured with a positive `beresp.stale_while_revalidate` time that has yet to expire, this will still be considered a hit and will trigger a background fetch to repopulate the cache asynchronously. A stale object may also trigger a _hit_ if the backend is considered _sick_; that is, it has a health check configured, the health check is consistently failing, and the object is configured with a `beresp.stale_if_error` time which has not expired.

The `hit` subroutine should `return(deliver)` to deliver the object. It is also possible to `return(pass)`, ignoring the hit and instructing Fastly to fetch from the backend anyway. The exception statements `restart` and `error` may both be used in `vcl_hit`.

Typically `hit` is executed on a _fetch node_ as a result of [clustering](https://www.fastly.com/documentation/guides/full-site-delivery/custom-vcl/clustering).