Build caching

AgentBox builds a template as an ordered set of layers. When an instruction and its inputs have not changed, a completed layer can be reused.

Put stable work before frequently changed inputs:

select the base image;
install system dependencies;
copy the package manifest and install packages;
copy application source near the end.

skipCache() or skip_cache() bypasses the cache for the next instruction and every instruction after it. Pass skipCache: true or skip_cache=True to Template.build to bypass the layer cache for the entire build.

mjs

import { Template } from "@abox-dev/sdk";

const templateName = process.env.TEMPLATE_NAME ?? "cached-template";
const template = Template()
  .fromBaseImage()
  .runCmd("python3 -c 'print(6 * 7)'")
  .skipCache()
  .runCmd("echo refreshed");

await Template.build(template, templateName, { tags: ["v1"] });
await Template.build(template, templateName, {
  tags: ["v2"],
  skipCache: true,
});

console.log("Built cached-template:v1 and cached-template:v2");

For copy, use forceUpload or force_upload when the local file must be uploaded again regardless of its content.

Build caching ​

Build caching