have nginx cache static assets

nginx.conf

@@ -30,6 +30,9 @@ map $uri $uri_path {
     default           $uri;
 }
 
+# Cache configuration
+proxy_cache_path /var/cache/nginx levels=1:2 keys_zone=STATIC:10m inactive=24h max_size=1g;
+
 server {
     listen 80 default_server;
     
@@ -37,6 +40,30 @@ server {
     access_log /var/log/nginx/access.log;
     error_log /var/log/nginx/error.log;
     
+    # Static file caching for the "static" directory
+    location ~ ^/static/(.*)$ {
+        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:3000;
+        proxy_cache STATIC;
+        proxy_ignore_headers Cache-Control;
+        proxy_cache_valid 200 302 60m;
+        proxy_cache_use_stale error timeout updating http_500 http_502 http_503 http_504;
+        proxy_cache_lock on;
+        add_header X-Cache-Status $upstream_cache_status;
+        
+        # Cache bypass if needed (for development/debugging)
+        proxy_cache_bypass $http_pragma $http_authorization;
+        
+        # No TTL as requested (browser will check each time)
+        expires -1;
+        add_header Cache-Control "no-cache";
+        
+        # Standard proxy headers
+        proxy_set_header Host $host;
+        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
+        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
+        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
+    }
+    
     # Main location
     location / {
         proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:3000;