playbook/antigravity-awesome-skills/skills/vercel-optimize/references/support-topics/middleware-proxy-edge-cost.md

id	title	status	candidateKinds	frameworks	priority	citations	maxBriefChars
middleware-proxy-edge-cost	Middleware edge cost	active	middleware_heavy	next@>=12.0.0	90	https://nextjs.org/docs/app/building-your-application/routing/middleware https://vercel.com/docs/routing-middleware	850

Investigation Brief

Middleware recommendations should reduce unnecessary interception, not remove required request handling.

Evidence To Check

Use topMiddlewarePaths and the matcher config. Confirm which paths need auth, rewrites, headers, or locale handling. Check whether static assets, images, or routes with no middleware need are being matched.

Do Not Recommend When

Do not narrow the matcher in a way that bypasses required auth or routing behavior. Do not move middleware work into every route if the current matcher is already scoped.

Verification

State the current middleware share, the dominant matched paths, and the exact matcher line to change.