---
title: stale.exists
summary: null
url: >-
  https://www.fastly.com/documentation/reference/vcl/variables/cache-object/stale-exists
---

**Type:** STRING  
**Access:** read-only

**Available in:** all subroutines

Specifies if a given object has [stale content](https://www.fastly.com/documentation/guides/concepts/edge-state/cache/stale)
in cache. Returns a non-NULL string if stale content exists and NULL otherwise.