# `nginx_proxy_cache` role — phase-1 self-hosted edge cache

Sits on its own Incus container `nginx-cache` between clients and the distributed MinIO cluster. Caches HLS segments aggressively (1 MiB slice, 7 d TTL) and HLS playlists conservatively (60 s TTL). Disk-backed, capped at 20 GB, stale-on-error covered.

This is the **phase-1 alternative to a third-party CDN**. It costs nothing in egress, leaks no logs to a third party, and handles thousands of concurrent listeners on a single R720. Phase-2 (W3+) adds a second geographically-distinct cache node + GeoDNS ; phase-3 only if traffic justifies a third-party CDN (Bunny.net is wired in `cdn_service.go` and stays inert until `CDN_ENABLED=true`).

## Topology

```
                      :80
                       │
                ┌──────▼─────────┐
                │  nginx-cache   │  proxy_cache_path /var/cache/nginx/veza
                │  (this role)   │  20 GB disk, 1 MiB slices, 7 d TTL
                └──────┬─────────┘
                       │ keepalive ×32 backend pool
              ┌────────┴────────────────┐
              ▼          ▼          ▼   ▼
         minio-1.lxd  minio-2.lxd  minio-3.lxd  minio-4.lxd
         (EC:2 distributed cluster)
```

When `CDN_ENABLED=false` (the default), `TrackService.GetStorageURL` returns `http://minio-1.lxd:9000/...` presigned URLs directly. To route through this cache layer, point the backend at the cache instead :

```env
AWS_S3_ENDPOINT=http://nginx-cache.lxd:80
```

The cache forwards to MinIO ; signed URLs still work because the signature lives in the query string (we cache `$args` in the key but signatures are short-lived so cache effectiveness only matters per signed-URL window).

## Defaults

| variable                          | default                  | meaning                                                |
| --------------------------------- | ------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------ |
| `nginx_cache_root`                | `/var/cache/nginx/veza`  | disk-backed cache root                                 |
| `nginx_cache_max_size`            | `20g`                    | hard cap on the cache directory                        |
| `nginx_cache_inactive`            | `7d`                     | purge entries unused for > 7 d                         |
| `nginx_cache_ttl_segment`         | `7d`                     | TTL for `.ts` / `.m4s` / `.mp4` / `.aac` / `.m4a`      |
| `nginx_cache_ttl_playlist`        | `60s`                    | TTL for `.m3u8`                                        |
| `nginx_cache_ttl_other`           | `1h`                     | TTL for everything else (cover art, originals)         |
| `nginx_cache_stale_error_window`  | `1h`                     | serve stale on origin 5xx / timeout for this window    |
| `nginx_cache_listen_port`         | `80`                     | listener (HTTP). TLS lives at the public LB.           |
| `nginx_cache_minio_port`          | `9000`                   | MinIO upstream port                                    |

## Cache-key policy

```
"$scheme$request_method$host$uri$is_args$args" + $slice_range (segments only)
```

- **Authorization / Cookie not in the key.** All access in v1.0 goes through presigned URLs (signature in `$args`) so per-user state is naturally segmented by query string. Adding cookies/auth would either explode cardinality or, worse, leak per-user objects across users.
- **`$slice_range`** : 1 MiB slices. A range request for `bytes=0-512000` is served from the same cached chunks as `bytes=300000-700000` ; cache effectiveness stays high even when clients pick odd byte windows.

## Verifying it works

```bash
# Curl the same URL twice through the cache. First should be MISS,
# second should be HIT. The X-Cache-Status header surfaces the verdict.
curl -sI http://nginx-cache.lxd/veza-prod-tracks/<track-id>/master.m3u8 | grep -i x-cache
# x-cache-status: MISS
curl -sI http://nginx-cache.lxd/veza-prod-tracks/<track-id>/master.m3u8 | grep -i x-cache
# x-cache-status: HIT
```

The smoke test `infra/ansible/tests/test_nginx_cache.sh` automates this check.

## Operations

```bash
# Disk usage of the cache directory :
sudo du -sh /var/cache/nginx/veza

# Tail access logs (shows HIT/MISS/STALE per request) :
sudo tail -f /var/log/nginx/veza-cache.access.log

# Reload after changing TTLs without dropping in-flight requests :
sudo systemctl reload nginx

# Bust the entire cache :
sudo systemctl stop nginx
sudo rm -rf /var/cache/nginx/veza/*
sudo systemctl start nginx

# Per-key purge requires ngx_cache_purge or nginx-plus — not in v1.0.
# Workaround : delete the file from disk by computing the md5 of the
# cache key and touching the corresponding directory under
# /var/cache/nginx/veza/<a>/<bc>/<...>.

# Stub-status (Prometheus exporter target) — bound to loopback only :
curl -s http://127.0.0.1:81/__nginx_status
# Active connections: 4
# server accepts handled requests
# 12345 12345 67890
# Reading: 0 Writing: 1 Waiting: 3
```

## Hit-rate dashboard

The access log carries `cache=$upstream_cache_status`. Point a Promtail (or vector) instance at `/var/log/nginx/veza-cache.access.log` and group by `cache` for a hit-ratio panel. Until that's wired, a quick command :

```bash
sudo awk '{print $NF}' /var/log/nginx/veza-cache.access.log \
  | grep -oP 'cache=\K\w+' | sort | uniq -c | sort -rn
# 18432 cache=HIT
#  1284 cache=MISS
#    16 cache=EXPIRED
```

## What this role does NOT cover

- **TLS termination.** The Incus bridge is the trust boundary in v1.0. Public exposure goes through the existing HAProxy/Caddy LB which does TLS upstream of this cache. When phase-2 puts the cache directly on the public internet, switch `nginx_cache_listen_port` to 443 and add `tls_cert_path` / `tls_key_path` defaults.
- **Per-key purge.** OSS Nginx has no native purge ; v1.1 adds either ngx_cache_purge (compiled-in module) or migrates to Varnish.
- **Multi-node coordination.** Single cache node in phase-1. Phase-2 introduces a second node + GeoDNS — independent caches are fine because HLS segments are immutable.
- **Brotli.** Audio is already compressed ; gzip is enabled for `.m3u8` only. Brotli would add CPU for marginal gains.