URL: /rules/perf/critical-request-chains
---
title: "Critical Request Chains"
description: "Identifies chains of dependent resources that delay rendering"
---
Identifies chains of dependent resources that delay rendering
| | |
|---|---|
| **Rule ID** | `perf/critical-request-chains` |
| **Category** | [Performance](/rules/perf) |
| **Scope** | Per-page |
| **Severity** | warning |
| **Weight** | 5/10 |
## Solution
Critical request chains are sequences of dependent network requests that must complete before the page can render. Reduce chain depth by: 1) Inlining critical CSS instead of linking external files. 2) Adding async or defer to non-critical scripts. 3) Avoiding CSS @import — use `` tags instead. 4) Using `` for critical resources. 5) Reducing the number of render-blocking resources in ``.
## Enable / Disable
### Disable this rule
```toml squirrel.toml
[rules]
disable = ["perf/critical-request-chains"]
```
### Disable all Performance rules
```toml squirrel.toml
[rules]
disable = ["perf/*"]
```
### Enable only this rule
```toml squirrel.toml
[rules]
enable = ["perf/critical-request-chains"]
disable = ["*"]
```