content-hash-cache-pattern

You can cache file processing results by using SHA-256 content hashes as cache keys. This stores entries as {hash}.json files, ensuring expensive operations like PDF parsing or text extraction are computed only once per unique file content.

The best way to cache file processing across moves or renames is using SHA-256 content hashes as cache keys instead of file paths. This approach remains valid when files are moved and automatically invalidates the cache when file content changes.

Yes, content hash caching automatically invalidates when file content changes. Because it uses SHA-256 content hashes as cache keys, any modification to the file generates a new hash, bypassing the stale cache and triggering fresh processing.

You can integrate caching by adding a service layer wrapper that checks the cache, processes the file if needed, and stores the results. This keeps the computation stateless and separate from the cache layer.

Using SHA-256 hashes for cache keys requires reading the entire file to compute the hash before checking the cache. This adds an initial I/O overhead, making it less suitable for extremely large files where partial reads might be more efficient.

Yes, you can use content-hash caching for image analysis pipelines. It applies to any expensive file processing where identical files are processed repeatedly, storing the analysis results as JSON entries keyed by the file's SHA-256 hash.