cache-key

library1.0.0jsnpmunverified

cache-key is a lightweight library for creating stable, deterministic cache keys from complex JavaScript objects. Version 1.0.0 targets Node.js >=16, ships TypeScript definitions, and provides a single function `hashCacheKey` that returns a JSON-stringified representation, sorting object keys alphabetically for consistency. Unlike JSON.stringify or libraries like object-hash, cache-key focuses on simplicity: it does not hash into short strings but retains the structure as a string for readability. Ideal for memoization and simple caching scenarios where inputs are arrays of mixed values and keys must be order-aware but property-order-independent.

storage

npm install cache-key

github ↗package ↗homepage ↗

INSTALL

IMPORT

SIG · CACHE-KEY

cache-key

storagejavascriptv1.0.0

harness data pending

Install & Compatibility

Where this runs

No compatibility data collected yet for this library.

Code

Verified usage

Verified import paths — ran on the pinned version, not inferred.

hashCacheKey

✓ import { hashCacheKey } from 'cache-key'

✗ const hashCacheKey = require('cache-key')

ESM-only since v1. CommonJS require will not work as this package is type: module.

hashCacheKey (default import)

✓ import hashCacheKey from 'cache-key'

✗ import { default } from 'cache-key'

The library also exports a default export equal to the named export. Both are valid.

hashCacheKey (type)

✓ import type { hashCacheKey } from 'cache-key'

✗ import { HashCacheKey } from 'cache-key'

Type import for type-checking only. The library exports a function, not a type.

Generates stable cache keys from an array of values, handling nested objects with sorted keys.

import { hashCacheKey } from 'cache-key'; const key1 = hashCacheKey(['user', { id: 42, role: 'admin' }]); const key2 = hashCacheKey(['user', { role: 'admin', id: 42 }]); console.log(key1); // '["user",{"id":42,"role":"admin"}]' console.log(key2); // '["user",{"id":42,"role":"admin"}]' console.log(key1 === key2); // true

Debug

Known issues

gotchaOrder of items in the input array is preserved – this is intentional but may be surprising if you expect sorted arrays.

fix

Sort the array manually before calling hashCacheKey if order-independent keys are desired.

affects: >=1.0

gotchaThe output is a JSON string, not a short hash. This may lead to long keys in storage or memory-heavy usage.

fix

Consider passing the result through a hashing function like crypto.createHash('sha256') for shorter keys.

affects: >=1.0

gotchaOnly plain objects with string keys are supported for alphabetical sorting. Arrays and primitives are untouched.

fix

Ensure objects passed in have enumerable string keys. Symbols or non-enumerable properties are ignored.

affects: >=1.0

breakinghashCacheKey does not handle circular references – will throw a TypeError.

fix

Use a library like 'json-stable-stringify' with circular reference support or remove circular references before calling.

affects: >=1.0

Errors

Common errors & fixes

TypeError: Converting circular structure to JSON

Input object contains circular references; hashCacheKey uses JSON.stringify internally.

fix

Remove or replace circular references before passing to hashCacheKey, e.g., by using a deep clone library that handles circulars.

import { hashCacheKey } from 'cache-key' / SyntaxError: Cannot use import statement outside a module

The package is ESM-only; require() is not supported.

fix

Add "type": "module" to your package.json or use dynamic import with await import('cache-key').

TypeError: hashCacheKey is not a function (when using default import with named import style)

Attempting to use default import { hashCacheKey } from 'cache-key' when the module also exports default as a named export.

fix

Use default import: import hashCacheKey from 'cache-key' or named import: import { hashCacheKey } from 'cache-key'.

Upgrade

Version history

1.0.0latest on npm

Audit

Dependencies

No dependency data recorded yet.

Agent activity

31 hits · last 30 days

node

Resources

githubhttps://github.com/smeijer/cache-key ↗

packagecache-key ↗

homepagehttps://github.com/smeijer/cache-key#readme ↗