cache-strategy

What this skill does

# Cache Strategy

## Overview
This skill helps you design and implement multi-layer caching strategies for high-traffic APIs. It covers choosing the right caching pattern for your data access profile, configuring TTLs, preventing cache stampedes, and setting up cache invalidation that actually works in production.

## Instructions

### 1. Analyze the caching opportunity
Before adding caching, identify what to cache by examining query patterns:

```typescript
// Instrument your API routes to log response times and call frequency
// Look for: high frequency + low change rate = best cache candidates
// Example analysis output:
// GET /api/products      → 12,000 req/min, changes every 30min → CACHE (TTL: 5min)
// GET /api/products/:id  → 8,000 req/min, changes on update   → CACHE (invalidate on write)
// POST /api/orders       → 200 req/min, always unique          → DO NOT CACHE
// GET /api/user/profile  → 3,000 req/min, changes rarely       → CACHE (TTL: 15min)
```

### 2. Implement cache-aside pattern (most common)
The application checks cache first, falls back to database, then populates cache:

```typescript
import Redis from "ioredis";

const redis = new Redis({ host: "localhost", port: 6379, maxRetriesPerRequest: 3 });

async function getCached<T>(
  key: string,
  fetcher: () => Promise<T>,
  ttlSeconds: number = 300
): Promise<T> {
  const cached = await redis.get(key);
  if (cached) return JSON.parse(cached);

  const data = await fetcher();
  await redis.set(key, JSON.stringify(data), "EX", ttlSeconds);
  return data;
}

// Usage in route handler
app.get("/api/products/:id", async (req, res) => {
  const product = await getCached(
    `product:${req.params.id}`,
    () => db.products.findById(req.params.id),
    600 // 10 minutes
  );
  res.json(product);
});
```

### 3. Prevent cache stampedes
When a popular key expires, hundreds of requests hit the database simultaneously:

```typescript
async function getCachedWithLock<T>(
  key: string,
  fetcher: () => Promise<T>,
  ttlSeconds: number = 300
): Promise<T> {
  const cached = await redis.get(key);
  if (cached) return JSON.parse(cached);

  const lockKey = `lock:${key}`;
  const acquired = await redis.set(lockKey, "1", "EX", 10, "NX");

  if (acquired) {
    try {
      const data = await fetcher();
      await redis.set(key, JSON.stringify(data), "EX", ttlSeconds);
      return data;
    } finally {
      await redis.del(lockKey);
    }
  }

  // Another process is refreshing — wait and retry
  await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, 100));
  return getCachedWithLock(key, fetcher, ttlSeconds);
}
```

### 4. Cache invalidation strategies
Pattern-based invalidation for related data:

```typescript
async function invalidatePattern(pattern: string): Promise<void> {
  let cursor = "0";
  do {
    const [nextCursor, keys] = await redis.scan(cursor, "MATCH", pattern, "COUNT", 100);
    if (keys.length > 0) await redis.del(...keys);
    cursor = nextCursor;
  } while (cursor !== "0");
}

// On product update: invalidate product and any list containing it
async function onProductUpdate(productId: string): Promise<void> {
  await redis.del(`product:${productId}`);
  await invalidatePattern("products:list:*");
}
```

## Examples

### Example 1: API response caching
**Prompt:** "Add Redis caching to my Express API. The /api/catalog endpoint is called 15,000 times per minute but the data only changes when an admin publishes updates. I want sub-10ms response times."

**Agent output:**
- Adds `src/cache/redis-client.ts` with connection pooling and retry config
- Wraps `/api/catalog` with cache-aside pattern, 5-minute TTL
- Adds stampede prevention with distributed locking
- Creates `src/cache/invalidation.ts` — called from the admin publish endpoint to bust catalog cache
- Adds cache hit/miss metrics via response headers (`X-Cache: HIT` / `X-Cache: MISS`)

### Example 2: Multi-layer caching
**Prompt:** "Our product API serves 50,000 RPM. Add in-memory cache for the hottest 1,000 items and Redis for everything else. Products change when inventory updates."

**Agent output:**
- Adds `src/cache/memory-lru.ts` using an LRU cache with 1,000 max entries and 60-second TTL
- Adds `src/cache/tiered-cache.ts` that checks memory → Redis → database in sequence
- Creates `src/events/inventory-handler.ts` that invalidates both cache layers on inventory change
- Adds `/admin/cache/stats` endpoint showing hit rates for each layer

## Guidelines

- **Cache-aside is the default** — use write-through only when you need guaranteed cache freshness on writes.
- **Never cache without a TTL** — even "permanent" data should have a long TTL (1 hour+) as a safety net.
- **Use key namespacing** — prefix keys like `products:v2:{id}` so you can version your cache schema.
- **Monitor hit rate** — below 80% means your TTL is too short or your data changes too fast for caching.
- **Serialize carefully** — JSON.parse/stringify is fine for most cases but consider MessagePack for large payloads.
- **Plan for Redis downtime** — your app should degrade gracefully to direct database queries, not crash.
- **Avoid caching user-specific data in shared caches** without proper key isolation — data leaks are a security incident.