Developer-kit spring-boot-cache

Provides patterns for implementing Spring Boot caching: configures Redis/Caffeine/EhCache providers with TTL and eviction policies, applies @Cacheable/@CacheEvict/@CachePut annotations, validates cache hit/miss behavior, and exposes metrics via Actuator. Use when adding caching to Spring Boot services, configuring cache expiration, evicting stale data, or diagnosing cache misses.

install

source · Clone the upstream repo

git clone https://github.com/giuseppe-trisciuoglio/developer-kit

Claude Code · Install into ~/.claude/skills/

T=$(mktemp -d) && git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/giuseppe-trisciuoglio/developer-kit "$T" && mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && cp -r "$T/plugins/developer-kit-java/skills/spring-boot-cache" ~/.claude/skills/giuseppe-trisciuoglio-developer-kit-spring-boot-cache && rm -rf "$T"

manifest: plugins/developer-kit-java/skills/spring-boot-cache/SKILL.md

source content

Spring Boot Cache Abstraction

Overview

6-step workflow for enabling cache abstraction, configuring providers (Caffeine, Redis, Ehcache), annotating service methods, and validating behavior in Spring Boot 3.5+ applications. Apply

@Cacheable

for reads,

@CachePut

for writes,

@CacheEvict

for deletions. Configure TTL/eviction policies and expose metrics via Actuator.

When to Use

Add
```
@Cacheable
```
,
```
@CachePut
```
, or
```
@CacheEvict
```
to service methods.
Configure Caffeine, Redis, or Ehcache with TTL and capacity policies.
Implement eviction strategies for stale data.
Diagnose cache misses or invalidation issues.
Expose hit/miss metrics via Actuator or Micrometer.

Instructions

Add dependencies —
```
spring-boot-starter-cache
```
plus a provider:
- Caffeine:
```
caffeine
```
  starter
- Redis:
```
spring-boot-starter-data-redis
```
- Ehcache:
```
ehcache
```
  starter
Enable caching — annotate a
```
@Configuration
```
class with
```
@EnableCaching
```
and define a
```
CacheManager
```
bean.
Annotate methods —
```
@Cacheable
```
for reads,
```
@CachePut
```
for writes,
```
@CacheEvict
```
for deletions.

Configure TTL/eviction — set

spring.cache.caffeine.spec

spring.cache.redis.time-to-live

, or

spring.cache.ehcache.config

Shape keys — use SpEL in
```
key
```
attributes; guard with
```
condition
```
/
```
unless
```
for selective caching.
Validate setup — run integration test to confirm cache hit on second call; check
```
GET /actuator/caches
```
to verify cache manager registration; query
```
GET /actuator/metrics/cache.gets
```
for hit/miss ratios.

Examples

Example 1: Basic

@Cacheable

Usage

@Service
@CacheConfig(cacheNames = "users")
class UserService {

    @Cacheable(key = "#id", unless = "#result == null")
    User findUser(Long id) { ... }
}

First call → cache miss, repository invoked
Second call → cache hit, repository skipped

Example 2: Conditional Caching with SpEL

@Cacheable(value = "products", key = "#id", condition = "#price > 100")
public Product getProduct(Long id, BigDecimal price) { ... }

// Only expensive products are cached

Example 3: Cache Eviction

@CacheEvict(value = "users", key = "#id")
public void deleteUser(Long id) { ... }

For progressive scenarios (basic product cache, multilevel eviction, Redis integration), load

references/cache-examples.md

Advanced Options

Use JCache annotations (
```
@CacheResult
```
,
```
@CacheRemove
```
) for providers favoring JSR-107 interoperability; avoid mixing with Spring annotations on the same method.
Cache reactive return types (
```
Mono
```
,
```
Flux
```
) or
```
CompletableFuture
```
values.
Apply HTTP
```
CacheControl
```
headers when exposing cached responses via REST.
Schedule periodic eviction with
```
@Scheduled
```
for time-bound caches.

Create a

CacheManagementService

for programmatic

cacheManager.getCache(name)

Troubleshooting

If cache misses persist after adding

@Cacheable

Verify
```
@EnableCaching
```
is present on a
```
@Configuration
```
class.
Confirm the method is public and called from outside the class (Spring uses proxies; self-invocation bypasses the cache).
Validate SpEL key expressions resolve correctly.
Confirm the cache manager bean is registered as
```
cacheManager
```
or explicitly referenced via
```
cacheManager = "myCacheManager"
```
.

References

```
references/spring-framework-cache-docs.md
```
: curated excerpts from Spring Framework Reference Guide.
```
references/spring-cache-doc-snippet.md
```
: narrative overview from Spring documentation.
```
references/cache-core-reference.md
```
: annotation parameters, dependency matrices, property catalogs.
```
references/cache-examples.md
```
: end-to-end examples with tests.

Best Practices

Prefer constructor injection and immutable DTOs for cache entries.
Separate cache names per aggregate (
```
users
```
,
```
orders
```
) to simplify eviction.
Log cache hits/misses only at debug; push metrics via Micrometer.
Tune TTLs based on data staleness tolerance; document rationale in code.
Guard caches storing PII or credentials with encryption or avoid caching.
Align cache eviction with transactional boundaries to prevent dirty reads.

Constraints and Warnings

Avoid caching mutable entities that depend on open persistence contexts.
Do not mix Spring cache annotations with JCache annotations on the same method.
Validate serialization compatibility when caching across service instances.
Monitor memory footprint to prevent OOM with in-memory stores.
Caffeine + Redis multi-level caches require publish/subscribe invalidation channels.