Caching and Side Effects

When a request is processed by retrieving an entry from the cache, it is not passed to the ESM Modules, which means it is not seen by the ESM. Sometimes ESMs do more than simply allow or deny security requests. These are called "side effects". For example, some ESMs keep track of the last time a user logged in; that's a side effect. If a Verify request is answered from the cache, the ESM will not be told to update the last-login time.

Side effects are commonly used with Verify requests, which is why they are not cached by default. If you enable Verify caching, be aware of any side effects that would normally occur in your ESM(s).

Similarly, if your ESM has side effects for resource access control that are useful to you, such as usage counts, be aware you'll lose these if you enable caching.