Third-party Claude API proxies may fake prompt caching savings, study warns

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A developer who audited more than a dozen third-party API relays reports that many advertise Claude prompt caching but fail to deliver it. Some proxies rotate requests across keys without session affinity, so cache writes repeat and users pay higher rates. Others strip cache control blocks and bill standard rates, or inject fake cache-read numbers into usage data. Even small changes to the system prompt can invalidate caches, and the article notes caching loses money if hit rates fall below about 22%. The author recommends a simple two-request test script and demanding per-request transparency from providers, and discloses that they run a competing routing gateway.

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ProgrammingDEV Community ·

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ProgrammingDEV Community ·

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