ars-cache-invalidate

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name: ars-cache-invalidate description: ARS /ars-cache-invalidate — drop cached verification entries for a citation key model: sonnet

Invalidate the persistent verification cache for one citation key, so the next pipeline run re-verifies it live against Crossref / OpenAlex / Semantic Scholar / arXiv instead of returning a stale cached verdict. Use this when a citation's metadata changed (e.g. a preprint gained a published DOI) or when a prior verification looks wrong.

The cache (spec v3.11 #182 Delta 2) is a local SQLite store at ~/.cache/ars/verification.db (override via ARS_VERIFICATION_CACHE_PATH), keyed by (citation_key, resolver_name, query_form) with a 90-day TTL. This command removes every cached entry for the named citation key (all four resolvers, all query forms); other citations are untouched. It is idempotent — invalidating a key with no cached rows succeeds as a no-op.

Invalidation cascade (#541, unconditional): after invalidation the next gate regenerates the citation's verification summary row and re-runs Phase E audit verdicts for claims citing it — unconditionally (no baseline is retained to diff against), covering existence status, metadata, and retrieved evidence alike. An age-based advisory also surfaces stale cache entries automatically at the gates (ARS_CACHE_STALE_ADVISORY_DAYS, default 30; opt-in live re-verification via ARS_CACHE_REVALIDATE=1).

To invalidate the entire cache at once (e.g. after a systemic resolver bug cached many false negatives), delete the database file directly: rm ~/.cache/ars/verification.db. It is recreated empty on the next run.

Implementation:

python3 scripts/ars_cache_invalidate.py $ARGUMENTS

Mode reference: docs/design/2026-05-21-v3.10-182-promote-citation-gate-spec.md §2 Delta 2.