Edge Cache Strategy Design

You will learn: how OpenFlare's edge proxy_cache aligns with the Cloudflare default loop between "should cache" and "should not cache": request eligibility (extension/policy) × response shareability (origin Cache-Control / Expires / Set-Cookie), and the differences from the previous over-strict request bypass.

This design is the productized chapter on "basic caching" in System Architecture; cache results in access logs are in Observability Data Model §3.5.1.

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1. Goals and Non-Goals

1.1 Goals

• Close to CF default out of the box: after enabling cache on a route, only static extensions are cached by default — HTML is not cached by default; request session cookies / Authorization / client Cache-Control no longer cause a blanket BYPASS.
• Cacheable content hits: a logged-in user visiting /_app/**/*.js and other static assets can show MISS → HIT.
• Non-cacheable stays blocked: policy not eligible (equivalent to CF DYNAMIC); origin private / no-store; responses with Set-Cookie not stored (aligned with CF OCC default); all is an advanced option with documented warnings.
• Default Edge TTL when no origin freshness: aligned with CF's per-status default TTL (see §3.5).
• Consistent observability: keep relying on $upstream_cache_status → three-state cache_status detail.
• Backward compatible: legacy route cache_policy=url maps to all; policy enum and migration rules stay in §5.

1.2 Non-Goals (later iterations)

• Cache Rules expression engine
• Forced Edge TTL ignoring origin Cache-Control (CF Cache Rules "Ignore cache-control")
• Purge (by URL/prefix/site-wide)
• Browser TTL rewriting, client CF-Cache-Status response header
• Full RFC conditions: Authorization cached only when the response has public/s-maxage/must-revalidate (needs Lua; this iteration deletes the request-side bypass entirely, relying on policy + origin headers)
• HEAD → GET conversion then cache
• Hit-rate dashboard

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2. Cloudflare Decision Loop (Alignment Baseline)

CF default is a two-stage decision, not "request has Cookie → don't cache".

2.1 Stage A — Eligible at Request Time

Condition	CF Result
Non-GET	not cached by default
Extension not in default cacheable table, no Rules forcing eligible	DYNAMIC (no cache lookup)
Extension in default table, or Rules eligible	continue to Stage B
Request Cookie	no effect by default
Cache Rules Bypass	DYNAMIC

CF's default cacheable extensions are keyed by extension rather than MIME; HTML / JSON are not cached by default.

2.2 Stage B — Response Storeable (OCC on, Free/Pro/Biz default)

Condition	Result
Cache-Control: no-store / private	not stored
public + max-age>0, or future Expires	cacheable
No Cache-Control / Expires	still cacheable with per-status default Edge TTL (e.g. 200 → 120m)
Response Set-Cookie (default cache level + OCC)	not stored, status tends toward BYPASS
Request Authorization	cacheable only when the response also has public / s-maxage / must-revalidate (full condition simplified with Nginx this iteration, see §3.4)

2.3 Status Semantics (vs. Observability)

CF	Meaning	OpenFlare cache_status
HIT / STALE / UPDATING / REVALIDATED	hit class	same-name or equivalent
MISS / EXPIRED	fetch from origin	same-name
BYPASS	eligible at request time, response not cacheable	BYPASS → UI "not cached"
DYNAMIC	not eligible at request time	policy skip mostly BYPASS or empty → UI "not cached"

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3. Product Semantics

3.1 Two-Level Switch (unchanged)

• Global openresty_cache_enabled: generates proxy_cache_path etc.; when off, route-level cache directives are inert.
• Route cache_enabled: whether to enable proxy_cache in that site's location.

Cache logic only runs when both are on.

3.2 Policy Enum

cache_policy	Meaning	New Default	Legacy Compatibility
static	only eligible when URI matches standard static extensions	yes	—
all	after method bypass, no path/extension restriction (advanced; risk similar to CF Cache Everything)	no	legacy url → all
suffix	custom extension list (cache_rules)	no	kept
path_prefix	custom path prefix	no	kept
path_exact	custom exact path	no	kept

Render layer: historical url is treated as all; API/UI only expose the enum above.

3.3 Standard Static Extensions (built-in)

Aligned with CF default "no HTML/JSON caching"; keeps modern frontend-friendly enhancements:

css js mjs map
ico cur gif jpg jpeg png webp avif svg svgz
ttf otf woff woff2 eot
mp3 mp4 webm ogg flac
wasm pdf
zip 7z gz tar

• Excludes html / htm / json (aligned with CF not caching JSON by default).
• Includes map / mjs / wasm (deliberate enhancement for sourcemap / ES module / WASM hits).
• Matching: $uri extension, case-insensitive:
  if ($uri !~* \.(?:css|js|…)$) { set $openflare_skip_cache 1; }

3.4 Request-Side Bypass (after CF alignment)

Only kept:

1. $request_method != GET (HEAD included, consistent with current network; no CF HEAD→GET)

Removed (previously over-strict, causing low hit rates):

• Session-cookie regex
• $http_authorization != ""
• request $http_cache_control matching no-cache|no-store|private

How security still holds:

Threat	Gate
Accidentally caching HTML/API	default static extensions (no html/json)
Personalized content	origin private / no-store (respected by Nginx)
Response writes session	Set-Cookie → not stored (§3.6)
all too broad	UI/doc warning: needs correct origin Cache-Control
API with Bearer	rely on policy (don't use all for APIs) + origin headers; full Auth conditional caching is later

3.5 Default Edge TTL (no origin freshness)

Aligned with CF's per-status default TTL without Cache-Control/Expires, emitted in cache-enabled locations:

Status	TTL
200, 206, 301	120m
302, 303	20m
404, 410	3m

proxy_cache_valid 200 206 301 120m;
proxy_cache_valid 302 303 20m;
proxy_cache_valid 404 410 3m;

• When the origin provides valid Cache-Control / Expires, the origin freshness wins (no proxy_ignore_headers).
• No forced Edge TTL override ignoring origin headers.

3.6 Response Side: Set-Cookie Not Stored

Aligned with CF OCC default: an eligible request whose origin returns Set-Cookie is not written into proxy_cache (read path may still have MISS/BYPASS semantics).

proxy_no_cache $openflare_skip_cache $upstream_http_set_cookie;

(proxy_no_cache multi-arg: any non-empty and non-"0" arg means no write.)

proxy_cache_bypass still only binds $openflare_skip_cache (request-side skip); the response side only affects writes, consistent with CF "eligible but response not cacheable".

3.7 Relationship with Origin Headers

• Eligibility: policy + method bypass.
• Store / duration: origin Cache-Control / Expires + default proxy_cache_valid + Set-Cookie gate + global inactive.

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4. Rendering and Data Flow

Global cache_enabled?
    │ no → no proxy_cache_* generated
    ▼ yes
Route cache_enabled?
    │ no → location without proxy_cache
    ▼ yes
set $openflare_skip_cache 0
    → non-GET → set 1
    → policy if (static/all/suffix/…) → may set 1
proxy_cache openflare_cache
proxy_cache_methods GET
proxy_cache_bypass $openflare_skip_cache
proxy_no_cache $openflare_skip_cache $upstream_http_set_cookie
proxy_cache_valid …
    →
access.log cache_status=$upstream_cache_status

4.1 Policy → Nginx Conditions

Policy	Extra Condition
static	$uri not matching built-in extension table → skip
all	no extra path condition
suffix	not matching cache_rules extensions → skip
path_prefix / path_exact	same as current implementation

4.2 Code Areas Involved

Area	Path
Rendering	pkg/render/openresty/render.go (bypass, Set-Cookie, proxy_cache_valid, extension constants)
Validation	internal/apps/openflare/proxy_route/helpers.go
Model/defaults	creating a route defaults cache_policy=static; url→all on read/write
Snapshot	config_version snapshot normalization
UI	proxy-routes/detail/components/cache-section.tsx

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5. Compatibility and Migration

Data	Handling
cache_policy='' or url in DB (and cache enabled)	read / snapshot / render → all
API write with enabled and empty policy	normalized to all; UI new-create with cache on explicitly submits static
New routes	default static when cache enabled
Bypass behavior change	breaking vs. old implementation: cookie/auth traffic goes from "not cached" to cacheable HIT; requires republishing node configs
Default extensions	remove json from the table; sites relying on caching *.json can use custom suffix or all

Release note: document this alignment with the CF default model; hit rate expected to rise; all and wrong origin headers need ops self-check.

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6. UI Copy Points (Cache Tab)

• After enabling cache, default: standard static assets (summary extensions, excluding HTML/JSON; including map/mjs etc.).
• Options: standard static / all cacheable GET (advanced) / custom suffix / path prefix / exact path.
• CF-aligned notes:
  • login cookies are not separately skipped from caching;
  • origin private / no-store / response Set-Cookie are not written to the edge cache;
  • default Edge TTL used when no origin cache headers.
• Advanced all: warn "similar to Cache Everything; personalized pages must declare private/no-store from the origin".
• Global Performance cache master switch must be on.

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7. Decision Matrix (Avoid Missed Judgments)

Scenario	CF	OpenFlare (this design)
GET static + session Cookie + origin public max-age	HIT	HIT
GET HTML + static policy	DYNAMIC	policy skip → not cached
GET + all + origin private	not stored	not stored
GET static + response Set-Cookie	BYPASS (OCC)	not stored
GET + Authorization + static public	conditional cache	cacheable (simplified; rely on origin not marking sensitive APIs public)
GET + no-CC 200 static	default 120m	proxy_cache_valid 120m
DevTools Disable cache (request no-cache)	edge may still HIT by default	edge may still HIT by default
POST	not cached	non-GET skip

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8. Decision Record

Decision	Choice	Reason
Request Cookie bypass	removed	aligned with CF; restore static hit rate for logged-in users
Request Authorization / Cache-Control bypass	removed	aligned with CF request-eligibility model; response gate as backstop
Set-Cookie	bind to proxy_no_cache	aligned with CF OCC "response Set-Cookie not stored"
Default Edge TTL	per-status proxy_cache_valid	aligned with CF default TTL when headerless, avoiding "never stored"
Remove json from default table	yes	aligned with CF not caching JSON by default
Keep map/mjs/wasm	yes	useful hits for modern frontend, deliberate enhancement
Default cacheable scope	cache-on defaults to static	benchmarked to CF, reduces HTML/API mis-caching
Legacy url	maps to all	doesn't narrow existing behavior
Full Auth conditions / Purge / Rules	later	close the default loop first, then extend