Caching Strategy

Purpose

Design a multi-layer caching architecture that minimizes latency and server load while maintaining data freshness. Produces a cache hierarchy diagram, key schema, TTL policy table, and invalidation flow for each cacheable resource.

Scope Constraints

• Reads: Application architecture diagrams, resource inventories, access pattern logs, existing cache configuration, Cache-Control headers, CDN settings.
• Cannot: Profile runtime performance bottlenecks or measure Core Web Vitals (use performance-audit). Cannot model traffic growth or define scaling triggers (use load-modeling). Cannot provision CDN or cache infrastructure.

Inputs

• Application architecture (server framework, database, CDN provider)
• Resource inventory (pages, API responses, static assets, database queries)
• Access patterns (read/write ratio, update frequency, personalization requirements)
• Freshness requirements (how stale can each resource be before it hurts the user?)
• Current caching setup (if any) and known pain points