How can I configure Flask-Cache with infinite timeout

Question

In the Flask-Cache documentation all the examples use a finite timeout.

I'd like to never refresh the cache while the app is running. Is this possible, and if so how do I do it?

You can't just set it to a really big number? If you want it cached forever, maybe you should just save it to a file and serve that? — Cathy, Jul 30 '13 at 06:52
Both solutions will do, but I was just curious if infinite caching was supported at all — iwein, Jul 30 '13 at 12:48

score 22 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 20 '16 at 19:38

22

Flask-Cache uses werkzeug.contrib.cache behind the scenes. From the documentation it's made clear that

A timeout of 0 indicates that the cache never expires.

So yes, infinite caching is supported and can be turned on by setting the timeout to zero.

answered Apr 20 '16 at 19:38

foob

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Here is an example: `cache.set(event, value, timeout=0)` – Bob Jordan Jun 10 '17 at 08:45
Documentation link is broken, here is one for Flask-Caching (not Flask-Cache!): https://flask-caching.readthedocs.io/en/latest/ – aboger Aug 19 '19 at 17:19
Does an infinite timeout mean the cache files are never deleted? – wordsforthewise Apr 07 '22 at 07:00

score 8 · Answer 2 · edited Oct 16 '14 at 19:49

8

There does not seem to be anything listed in the docs. I have used the following and it works fine.

     cache = Cache(webapp, config={
         'CACHE_TYPE': 'filesystem',
         'CACHE_DIR': 'cache-dir', 
         'CACHE_DEFAULT_TIMEOUT': 922337203685477580,
         'CACHE_THRESHOLD': 922337203685477580
     })

That is way more years than you will need to worry about so for all intents and purposes, let's call that infinite.

edited Oct 16 '14 at 19:49

iwein

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answered Oct 13 '14 at 14:20

Chiedo

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As far as `CACHE_THRESHOLD` goes you could set it to e.g. `math.inf` which feels cleaner. – nirvana-msu Sep 30 '19 at 21:03
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Big, undefined numbers lead to poor code readability. If I was another dev looking through this code years after it was written, I would have no idea what those numbers mean or how they were generated. Using something more symbolic like `0` or `math.inf` is much better than this. – Hartley Brody Mar 25 '22 at 22:12

How can I configure Flask-Cache with infinite timeout

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