Check Cache Before Making Expensive External API Calls

When integrating external APIs, check your cache before making expensive API calls. Don’t fetch all data upfront only to discover you had it cached.

❌ Before: Wasteful API Calls

public function handle(): int
{
    $username = $this->argument('username');

    // Fetch all data first, then check cache
    $profile = $this->fetchUserProfile($username);
    $comments = $this->fetchComments($username);
    $posts = $this->fetchPosts($username);

    // Now check if we had cached results
    $cached = $this->checkCache($username);
    
    if ($cached) {
        return $cached; // Oops, already fetched unnecessary data!
    }

    // Process the data we fetched
    return $this->processData($profile, $comments, $posts);
}

✅ After: Cache-First Approach

public function handle(): int
{
    $username = $this->argument('username');

    // Fetch lightweight data first
    $profile = $this->fetchUserProfile($username);

    // Check cache BEFORE expensive calls
    $cached = $this->checkCache($username);
    
    if ($cached) {
        $this->line('✓ Using cached data');
        return $cached;
    }

    // Only fetch expensive data if cache miss
    $this->line('✗ Cache miss - fetching data...');
    $comments = $this->fetchComments($username);
    $posts = $this->fetchPosts($username);

    return $this->processData($profile, $comments, $posts);
}

Why This Matters

This pattern reduces unnecessary API requests, saves rate limits, and improves performance. In the example above, we fetch comments and posts only when there’s a cache miss.

The key insight: lightweight checks first, expensive operations last. Your future self (and your API quota) will thank you.