# Cache invalidation storm: first 30 minutes checklist

Source: https://releasefailures.com/incidents/cache-invalidation-storm/
Content version: 1.0.0
Verified on: 2026-10-21
Licence: CC BY 4.0

Definition: A deploy flushes or invalidates caches at once and origin load spikes.
- [ ] FM-01 Check whether the cache hit rate fell or cache entries expired at the moment a deployment or agent rollout started.
- [ ] FM-02 Roll back a deployment that touched the cache write path at once, because every minute of rewrites adds replication delay.
- [ ] FM-03 Pause any agent upgrade rollout that is still restarting cache hosts.
- [ ] FM-04 Throttle client boot requests so read load on the database behind the cache stays within capacity.
- [ ] FM-05 Change the overloaded cache-fronted query to read only the missing data and to use replicas.
- [ ] FM-06 Raise the boot rate limit in steps as the cache hit rate recovers.
- [ ] FM-07 Post a status update that lists the failing surfaces and their error rates, such as web requests, API requests and Git over HTTP.