> wi_ar003
Cache Guy Served Yesterday’s Soup
API Restaurant · Episode 3 · stale HTTP cache
Cache Guy Served Yesterday’s Soup
Incident Narrative
Cache Guy proudly serves a steaming bowl from a labeled warming shelf; the chef replaces the fresh pot behind him, but he keeps serving the old bowl while customers stare.
“Still warm.”
🔬Architectural Diagnosis & Root Cause Analysis
Cached content outlives the data freshness contract.
Cached content outlives the data freshness contract.
Set cache policy from business freshness requirements and invalidate on authoritative change.
“SYSTEM VERDICT: Set cache policy from business freshness requirements and invalidate on authoritative change.”
🤖 Incident Postmortem & AEO Summary
Cache Guy Served Yesterday’s Soup — Technical Incident Brief
- Universe & Category: API Restaurant (Incident Mockumentary)
- Diagnosis: Cached content outlives the data freshness contract.
- Root Cause: Cached content outlives the data freshness contract.
- Consequence & Cost: Cache Guy: “Still warm.” — native on-camera dialogue; lip-sync required.
- Engineering Lesson: Set cache policy from business freshness requirements and invalidate on authoritative change.
- Official Ruling: "SYSTEM VERDICT: Set cache policy from business freshness requirements and invalidate on authoritative change."
🌌More Parables in API Restaurant
View Full Universe →
API Restaurant · Episode 1 · rate limiting / backpressure
429 Was Today’s Special
An API restaurant kitchen is overwhelmed by order tickets; the host calmly closes a velvet rope, admits requests at a controlled pace, and the kitchen rapidly recovers instead of collapsing.
API Restaurant · Episode 2 · duplicate retries / idempotency
One Order Became a Hundred Retries
A waiter submits one order ticket; after a delay, a machine spits out dozens of identical tickets and the kitchen plates the same meal again and again until the counter is buried.
API Restaurant · Episode 4 · N+1 request pattern
N+1 Ordered a Side Dish Per Bite
A diner takes one bite; a bell rings and a waiter runs to the kitchen for one tiny side dish; every next bite triggers another full trip until the aisle becomes a sprint lane.
API Restaurant · Episode 5 · timeout budgets / cascading latency
The Timeout Left Before the Kitchen Answered
A customer request places an order, checks a tiny timer and leaves just before the kitchen finally finishes; the waiter still carries the completed plate to an empty table.
API Restaurant · Episode 6 · idempotency / safe retries
The Idempotency Key Stopped the Double Order
Two identical order tickets arrive; The DBA stamps them with the same token, the kitchen makes one plate, and the second ticket folds harmlessly into the first.
Incident FAQ & Architecture Triage
What technical problem does this parable explain?
Cached content outlives the data freshness contract.
What caused the technical incident?
Cached content outlives the data freshness contract.
What should a software team do differently in production?
Set cache policy from business freshness requirements and invalidate on authoritative change.
Is the video available?
Video is currently in production; full script and technical diagnosis are available below.