Application cache

Active contributors: platform team.

Purpose

IApplicationCacheService is an in-process cache of frequently-read, slowly-changing data — most notably organization abilities and provider abilities. It is held per-pod (so a single in-process dictionary can answer the question "is this org enabled / has it got SSO / is it in trial / does it accept Secrets Manager?") and invalidated cluster-wide via a Service Bus topic when an update happens elsewhere.

Directory layout

src/Core/Services/
├── IApplicationCacheService.cs                                   # interface
└── Implementations/
    ├── InMemoryApplicationCacheService.cs                        # default
    └── InMemoryServiceBusApplicationCacheService.cs              # cloud / cluster-aware

src/Core/HostedServices/
└── ApplicationCacheHostedService.cs                              # Service Bus subscriber that invalidates the cache

Key abstractions

Type	Description
IApplicationCacheService	GetOrganizationAbilitiesAsync(), GetProviderAbilitiesAsync(), UpsertOrganizationAbilityAsync(...), DeleteOrganizationAbilityAsync(...).
InMemoryApplicationCacheService	Self-host default. Reads abilities from the DB on first use; updates are mutated locally.
InMemoryServiceBusApplicationCacheService	Cloud default. Same as above but every mutation also publishes to a Service Bus topic so other pods refresh.
ApplicationCacheHostedService	Subscribes to the Service Bus topic and applies received messages locally.
OrganizationAbility (src/Core/Services/Implementations/OrganizationAbility.cs)	The cached struct: ID, plan type, seat usage, enabled flags, business info — derived from the Organization row.

How it works

sequenceDiagram
    participant Api as Api / other host (write)
    participant Cache as Local IApplicationCacheService
    participant Bus as Service Bus topic
    participant Other as Other host instances

    Api->>Cache: UpsertOrganizationAbilityAsync(orgId)
    Cache->>Cache: Update local dict
    Cache->>Bus: publish "OrgUpdated"
    Bus->>Other: deliver
    Other->>Other: ApplicationCacheHostedService applies

ApplicationCacheHostedService is registered in Api.Startup, Identity.Startup, and the other long-running hosts when globalSettings.ServiceBus.ConnectionString is configured.

Why this matters

Reading the Organization row on every request would generate enormous load on the database — every cipher endpoint must check seat limits, plan features, and policy flags. Holding the abilities in-memory makes those checks essentially free. The Service Bus topic ensures that a plan change in one pod is visible to every other pod within seconds.

Entry points for modification

• Add a new field to abilities → extend OrganizationAbility (and the equivalent provider class), update InMemoryApplicationCacheService to hydrate it from the DB, update the Service Bus message contract.
• Move a new entity into the cache → introduce a new ability type and an additional Get/Upsert method on IApplicationCacheService.
• Skip the Service Bus dependency for a self-host scenario → the InMemoryApplicationCacheService is already used when the bus is not configured.