--- title: "Cache Steps" slug: "cache-steps" tags: ["cache", "key", "cache definition"] updated: 2026-03-26T14:59:20Z published: 2026-03-26T14:59:20Z --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://documentation.decisions.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Cache Steps ## Overview Cache Steps enable Users to store and retrieve data values in memory for a defined time. In Decisions, there is the ability to define different types of cache. While trying to store some value in the cache, define an Instance of the cache, the cache type, and a key to access the current value**.**Because of the custom nature of this set-up, this is referred to as "**Bespoke Caching**". Before using cache steps within a Project, make sure to set cache Instances and [Cache Definitions](https://documentation.decisions.com/docs/cache-definitions). --- ## Put in Cache To learn more about the different Cache Definitions, see [Cache Definitions](/v9/docs/cache-definitions). 1. In a Project, navigate to **Manage****> Configuration > Cache** and click ADD. Select**MemoryCacheDefinition**.![](https://cdn.document360.io/6ef8bcc1-6489-4486-9ad1-83acff7e5df0/Images/Documentation/2025-01-17_15h58_59.png) 2. From the MemoryCacheDefinition window, provide the desired **Configuration****Name**and **Description**. Click SAVE.![](https://cdn.document360.io/6ef8bcc1-6489-4486-9ad1-83acff7e5df0/Images/Documentation/2025-01-17_16h12_34.png) 3. Next, click ADD CACHE INSTANCE. Write a cache Name and select a Cache definition in the dropdown list under Configuration. A cache instance is required for the cache steps to work correctly.![](https://cdn.document360.io/6ef8bcc1-6489-4486-9ad1-83acff7e5df0/Images/Documentation/image-1749741899318.png) 4. From a Designer Folder, select CREATE FLOW from the **Global****Action****Bar**. Select **Flow**, name the Flow, and click CREATE. 5. On the **Toolbox**panel, navigate to **SYSTEM > CACHING** and attach a **Put In Cache**step to the **Start**and **End**steps.![](https://cdn.document360.io/6ef8bcc1-6489-4486-9ad1-83acff7e5df0/Images/Documentation/image-1749742047096.png) 6. On the **Properties**panel, pick "MemoryCacheInstance" in the **Cache****Name**dropdown list. 7. Enter "1" in the **Key**field and "admin@decisions" in the **Value**field. Additional Info on KeyThe Key Input is used as an identifier for the Value being placed in the cache. It is used to both organize the Value in the cache and can be used to later locate and pull the cache via additional steps.  ![](https://cdn.document360.io/6ef8bcc1-6489-4486-9ad1-83acff7e5df0/Images/Documentation/image-1749742242784.png) 8. Click **Save**to save changes to the Flow. Click **Debug**from the top action bar. Click START DEBUGGING. 9. After the Flow runs, select the **Put In Cache** step. Click **Execution 1** and select **View Input/Output Data** to verify that the value was stored in the cache.![](https://cdn.document360.io/6ef8bcc1-6489-4486-9ad1-83acff7e5df0/Images/Documentation/image-1749742273089.png) --- ## Get From Cache The following example demonstrates how to pull an email address from an email Cache via a Flow. 1. In a Designer Project, click CREATE FLOW. Select Flow, name the Flow, and click CREATE. 2. In the Flow Designer, attach a **Get From Cach****e** step from the Toolbox panel under **SYSTEM > CACHING** to the **Start**and **End**steps.![](https://cdn.document360.io/6ef8bcc1-6489-4486-9ad1-83acff7e5df0/Images/Documentation/image-1749742573571.png) 3. From the Properties tab of the **Get From Cache** step, select the **Cache Name**, and enter, as a constant, the Key that was used to place the value in the cache.![](https://cdn.document360.io/6ef8bcc1-6489-4486-9ad1-83acff7e5df0/Images/Documentation/image-1749742659848.png) 4. Click Save to save changes to the Flow. Click the **Debug**on the top action bar, then click START DEBUGGING. 5. After the Flow runs, click **Get From Cache > Execution 1 > View Input/Output**to verify that the retrieved email matches the one that was added previously to the cache.![](https://cdn.document360.io/6ef8bcc1-6489-4486-9ad1-83acff7e5df0/Images/Documentation/image-1749742694686.png) --- ## Adding Multiple Items to Cache The following example demonstrates how to add multiple items to a cache compiling Admin Emails via a Flow. 1. In a Project, click CREATE FLOW. Select Flow, name the Flow, and click CREATE. 2. From the Toolbox panel, attach a **Create****Data**step from the FAVORITE STEPS category to the **Start**step. 3. From the **Properties**tab of the Create Data step, select SHOW EDITOR.![](https://cdn.document360.io/6ef8bcc1-6489-4486-9ad1-83acff7e5df0/Images/Documentation/image-1749742801884.png) 4. From the **Data****to****Create**window, provide a NAME and select the **String [Text]**TYPE from the dropdown menu. Check the IS LIST box. 5. Set INPUT to **Constant**, then map the desired Emails. Click DONE, then Save and close the window.![](https://cdn.document360.io/6ef8bcc1-6489-4486-9ad1-83acff7e5df0/Images/Documentation/image-1737668413594.png) 6. From FAVORITE STEPS, attach a**Run Sub Flow** step to the Create Data step. On the Properties panel, select PICK OR CREATE FLOW and create a new Flow.![](https://cdn.document360.io/6ef8bcc1-6489-4486-9ad1-83acff7e5df0/Images/Documentation/image-1749743029633.png) 7. From the Flow Designer of the new Sub Flow, select SETUP INPUT DATA and then DEFINE under **Define****Input****Data**. 8. From the Input Data window, enter "ListofItems" under NAME and select String [Text] as the TYPE. Check IS LIST, click save, and close the window. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/6ef8bcc1-6489-4486-9ad1-83acff7e5df0/Images/Documentation/2024-06-25_11h43_06.png) 9. In the Toolbox panel, navigate to **FLOW MANAGEMENT > ITERATION**, attach a **ForEach****Step**step to the **Done**path of the Start step. On the Properties panel next to the Collection field, **select From Flow** and map it to **ListofItems**.![](https://cdn.document360.io/6ef8bcc1-6489-4486-9ad1-83acff7e5df0/Images/Documentation/image-1749743196118.png)![](https://cdn.document360.io/6ef8bcc1-6489-4486-9ad1-83acff7e5df0/Images/Documentation/image-1749743246401.png) 10. Under the **SYSTEM > CACHING**category, attach a**[List] Add Item** step to the **Next**path of the ForEach Step. On the Properties panel under CACHE SETUP, provide a **Cache****Name**. 11. Under INPUTS, Constant map the desired **Key**value. Then, select from the flow map **Item**to **Value**. Utilizing the same Key should allow the ability to recover all the added Values at once. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/6ef8bcc1-6489-4486-9ad1-83acff7e5df0/Images/Documentation/image-1749743423153.png) 12. Connect the Done path of the [List] Add Item step to the ForEach Step, then connect the ForEach Step's Done path to the **End**step. The ForEach Step is used to split the input List of Emails into individual items, then send each item to the [List] Add Item step to be added to the cache. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/6ef8bcc1-6489-4486-9ad1-83acff7e5df0/Images/Documentation/image-1749743489534.png) 13. Save the changes to the Sub Flow and close the Sub Flow. 14. From the Parent Flow, select the Sub Flow step to navigate to its Properties tab and map the **Output**of the Create Data step, to the Email List Input of the Sub Flow.![](https://cdn.document360.io/6ef8bcc1-6489-4486-9ad1-83acff7e5df0/Images/Documentation/image-1749743581472.png) 15. Connect the Done path of the Sub Flow to the End step. Then, save the Flow. 16. Click **Debug**from the top action bar. Select the Sub Flow, click **Execution 1**, and click **View Input/Output Data**.![](https://cdn.document360.io/6ef8bcc1-6489-4486-9ad1-83acff7e5df0/Images/Documentation/image-1749743633323.png) ## --- Additional Cache Steps | Cache Step | Description | | --- | --- | | [[List] Add Item](https://documentation.decisions.com/step-library/docs/list-add-item) | Adds a specified list of items to the cache. | | [[List] Clear From Cache](https://documentation.decisions.com/step-library/docs/list-clear-from-cache) | The Clear From Cache (List) step clears a list of objects from a specified cache. | | [[List] Get From Cache](https://documentation.decisions.com/step-library/docs/list-get-from-cache) | Use the [List] Get From Cache step to get a list of values from cache. | | [Clear Cache By Name](https://documentation.decisions.com/step-library/docs/clear-cache) | Clears a desired Instance in the cache. Can be selected by [Name](https://documentation.decisions.com/step-library/docs/clear-cache)or [Type](https://documentation.decisions.com/step-library/docs/clear-cache-by-type). | | [Clear Flow Step Cache](https://documentation.decisions.com/step-library/docs/clear-flow-step-cache) | This clears the step cache for individual steps in a Flow. This does not clear any Cache instances. | | [Clear Flow Step Cache [All Flows]](https://documentation.decisions.com/step-library/docs/clear-flow-step-cache-all-flows) | Clears the cache of all the steps within all Flows. This action does not clear any Cache instances. | | [Clear ORMEntityCache By Id](https://documentation.decisions.com/step-library/docs/clear-orm-entitycache-by-id) | Clears the cache for a specific entity by its ID. | | [Clear ORMEntityCache By Type](https://documentation.decisions.com/step-library/docs/clear-cache-by-type) | The Clear Cache By Type step is used to clear out Data entries from Caches in a Project based on the selected Type of Data -String, Int, etc. | | [Delete From Cache By Filter](https://documentation.decisions.com/step-library/docs/delete-from-cache-by-filter) | Delete certain items from a cache by using a filter to set the properties of what is to be deleted. | | [Filter Cache](https://documentation.decisions.com/step-library/docs/filter-cache) | Applies a filter to the cache. | | [Get From Cache](https://documentation.decisions.com/step-library/docs/get-from-cache) | Pulls a cache value based on a specific Key. | | [Key Exists In Cache](https://documentation.decisions.com/step-library/docs/key-exists-in-cache) | Check if the Instance of the cache contains the Key. | | [Key Matches Substring In Cache](https://documentation.decisions.com/step-library/docs/key-matches-substring-in-cache) | This Step will search the cache for keys that have any characters in their key input. Then it will return True or False depending on the result. | | [Put In Cache](https://documentation.decisions.com/step-library/docs/put-in-cache) | Use the Put In Cache step to place some value in memory for a defined time. Cache Instance Name can be any name you want to associate with this cache. | | [Put In Cache using Generated Key](https://documentation.decisions.com/step-library/docs/put-in-cache-using-generated-key) | Allows Users to put a value in the cache to generate a key to access the value. | | [Put Items In Cache](https://documentation.decisions.com/step-library/docs/put-items-in-cache) | Adds a String list of items to the selected cache. This looks for an existing list, whereas [List] Add Item actually creates a list of items. | | [Remove Key From Cache](https://documentation.decisions.com/step-library/docs/remove-key-from-cache) | Removes the key value from a cache instance. | | [Reset Constants and Lookups](https://documentation.decisions.com/step-library/docs/reset-constants-and-lookups) | The Reset Constants and Lookups step is used in conjunction with a Data Cache step to reset any existing constants or lookup list values in a cache. | --- ## Feature Changes | Description | Version | Release Date | Developer Task | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Cache steps have been upgraded to be project-specific. New steps were added. | [9.6](https://documentation.decisions.com/v99/docs/version-96x-release-notes) | January 2025 | [DT-043288] | | A new step has been added under System > Caching named ‘Clear ORMEntityCache By Id’. This step allows Users to clear the cache for a specific entity using its entity_id. | [9.22](https://documentation.decisions.com/v99/docs/en/370aa408-2485-430c-821a-e1ee1ffb0811?isPreview=true&versionNumber=1) | April 2025 | [DT-047078] | For further information on Flows, visit the [Decisions Forum](https://community.decisions.com/categories/Flows).