Optional distributed caching

The full user-service profile registers IDistributedCache. It uses the in-process distributed-memory provider by default, so the API works without additional infrastructure. Set REDIS_CONNECTION to use Redis instead:

REDIS_CONNECTION=redis:6379

The minimal profile does not include Redis, caching, EF Core, or user-service dependencies.

What is cached

Paginated collection responses from the shared CRUD controller are cached for 30 seconds. The cache key includes the entity type, cache version, page, page-size, text query, and soft-delete flag. A successful create, update, or delete advances the entity cache version, invalidating prior collection responses without requiring key enumeration.

Cache failures are intentionally fail-open: reads continue against PostgreSQL and writes succeed even if Redis is unavailable. Redis is an optimization, not the source of truth. Do not cache responses containing user-specific or authorization-sensitive data in a shared key without adding an identity-aware key or moving that endpoint out of the generic controller.

Compose

Run the optional overlay when local distributed-cache behavior is needed:

docker compose -f docker-compose.yaml -f docker-compose.redis.yaml up -d --build

The base Compose stack remains the supported default and does not start Redis. For production, provide Redis through the platform's managed service and keep the connection string in the secret manager. Configure persistence, TLS, authentication, eviction, and availability according to the chosen Redis provider.