PLAT-02: Distributed caching strategy and cache-invalidation semantics

[Chris0Jeky]

Source:

• docs/WIP/Scaling and Hardening Taskdeck (Vue 3 + ASP.NET Core) – Comprehensive Guide.pdf (Caching guidance)

Horizon:

• Future expansion tranche (post current Phase 4 backlog)

Depends on:

• DEBT-02: Log query scalability pass #53
• ANL-03: Forecasting and capacity-planning service (heuristic-first) #79

Scope:

• Identify hot read paths and define cache-aside policy (TTL, key strategy, invalidation triggers).
• Implement initial cache integration with environment-safe fallback to no-cache mode.
• Add observability for hit/miss/error rates and stale data diagnostics.

Acceptance Criteria:

• At least one high-value read path is cache-backed with measurable latency improvement.
• Cache invalidation semantics are documented and test-covered.
• Cache failures degrade safely without breaking correctness.
• Metrics emitted for cache effectiveness and failure analysis.

Suggested branch:

• feature/distributed-cache-semantics