Caching

The summarizer keeps a transcript cache so you can re-process the same video with different styles, providers, or languages without waiting for transcription again.

How It Works

When you run the CLI or webapp:

1. A cache key is built from the parameters that affect transcription output
2. If a matching transcript exists in memory (or on disk when persistence is enabled), it is returned instantly
3. On a cache miss, the transcript is fetched normally and stored for later reuse

Cache hits are reported in verbose mode:

[+] Transcript cache hit (memory, a3f7b2d8e1c4) — skipping transcription
[+] Transcript cache hit (disk, a3f7b2d8e1c4) — skipping transcription

Cache Key

The key is a SHA-256 hash of these parameters joined together:

Changing any of these values produces a different key and triggers a fresh transcription. Changing the summary style, provider, or output language does not affect the key, so those re-runs are instant.

In-Memory Cache (Default)

By default, transcripts are cached in process memory only. Restarting the CLI or Streamlit server clears the in-memory cache.

Disk Persistence (Docker / Long-Running Deployments)

Enable on-disk caching so transcripts survive container restarts:

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defaults:
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  cache-transcript-persist: true
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  output-dir: summaries

Cached files are stored under {output-dir}/.cache/transcripts/.

Or set environment variables (used when the YAML key is omitted):

Docker Compose sets SUMMARIZER_CACHE_PERSIST=true by default. The image ships with cache-transcript-persist: true in summarizer.docker.yaml.

Disabling the Cache

Set cache-transcript: false in summarizer.yaml:

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defaults:
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  cache-transcript: false

Or pass --no-config and the cache is bypassed entirely.

Important Notes

• In-memory entries are always used first; disk is checked on a miss.
• The cache does not apply to visual mode (--visual), which skips transcription entirely.
• The cache applies to TXT files too, since they bypass audio processing and are treated as pre-existing transcripts.