Cache Wipe / Force Re-roll¶

When the Generation Runner's cache is working against you instead of for you. This page covers explicit cache control — what to wipe, when, and how.

For the general concept of how cache works, see Chapter 5 — Cache and Re-generation.

When you need to wipe cache¶

Situation	Wipe?
Standard re-run after prompt edit	NO — runner auto-invalidates the edited node's cache
Standard re-roll on one scene	NO — use per-node rerun (which ignores cache for that node only)
Avatar reference URL changed	YES — the cache was tied to the old URL
Model identifier changed (NB1 → NB2)	YES — old cached output is from the wrong model
Complete fresh comparison run	YES — you want everything regenerated
Workflow file restored from backup	YES — cached output may not match the restored prompts
Old `.nbflow` from a previous month's project	YES — cache might point to URLs that have been cleaned up
Suspect cache corruption	YES — when in doubt, wipe

How to wipe cache¶

You: wipe the cache on XYZG3-V0-3 and regenerate from scratch.

Claude:
  Wiping cached _savedImages and _savedClips from all gen nodes in
  XYZG3-V0-3.nbflow...

  Wiped 8 image nodes and 8 video nodes across 5 account tabs (40 nodes
  total).

  Source file saved (the original cache is preserved in
  backups/XYZG3-V0-3.nbflow.bak-2026-05-12-pre-cache-wipe).

  Now invoking the Generation Runner — it will regenerate every node
  since none have cached output anymore.

  ~30-45 min estimated for the full pass.

Wiping is a destructive change to the source .nbflow. The cache state is gone after the wipe. That's why the backup is critical — if you change your mind, restore from backups/.

How to wipe cache for just specific nodes¶

You don't usually want to wipe everything. Often you want to invalidate cache for specific nodes:

You: wipe the cache for just Scenes 03 and 05 in XYZG3-V0-3. Other
     scenes should keep their cached output.

Claude: [clears _savedImages and _savedClips on the specific scene nodes;
         saves; runner will regenerate just those scenes]

This is the targeted middle ground between "wipe everything" and "no wipe."

Force re-roll on a single node¶

When you want fresh candidates for one scene (different seeds, same prompt):

You: re-roll Scene 03's image gen. Don't use cached output.

Claude: [calls regen-nodes.py for Scene 03's image node — that script
         always ignores cache for the targeted node]

regen-nodes.py always treats the targeted nodes as cache-misses, even if _savedImages is populated. The other nodes' cache stays intact.

This is the most common cache-control operation. You're not really wiping cache — you're saying "don't use it for this node."

Cache wipe vs. version bump¶

A confusing pair:

Cache wipe: Clear the _savedImages and _savedClips fields on gen nodes. Forces regeneration on next run. Doesn't bump the version.
Version bump: Move the current .nbflow to backups/ and save a new one with a higher V0-N. Documents a meaningful change in the version history.

These often happen together but are distinct operations.

You did this	Wipe cache?	Bump version?
Edited a single scene's prompt	NO (auto-invalidated)	YES (it's a meaningful change)
Wiped cache to start fresh	YES	YES (a wipe is a meaningful change)
Restored from backup	NO (the cache is what's restored)	NO (you're going back to a prior version)
Per-node re-roll for fresh seeds	N/A (regen-nodes ignores cache)	NO (re-rolls aren't meaningful changes unless results are different)
Avatar ref URL update + re-run	YES	YES (URL change is meaningful)

The `mode=clean` invocation¶

The Generation Runner supports a clean-run mode that explicitly wipes cache before running:

You: re-run XYZG3-V0-3 in clean mode — wipe cache first, then regenerate.

Claude: [invokes Generation Runner with --mode=clean]
        [wipes cache, then runs all nodes from scratch]

This combines the wipe and re-run into one operation. Useful when you know you need a clean pass.

When wiping cache is excessive¶

Don't wipe cache when:

A single scene needs a re-roll: Use per-node rerun. Cheap. Doesn't disturb anything else.
You "just want to be sure": The cache is reliable. If you find yourself wiping out of paranoia, you're burning budget for no benefit.
After a prompt edit: The runner auto-invalidates cache for nodes whose prompts changed. You don't need to wipe manually.
Recovering from a runner crash: The cache holds what succeeded. Don't wipe — let the next run reuse what's there. (Unless the cache is corrupted — see Runner Crash Recovery.)

When R2 URL stale + cache stale combine¶

A particularly annoying combo: you re-uploaded an avatar reference to R2 (new URL), but the workflow's cache still has _savedImages pointing at outputs generated with the OLD avatar URL.

Symptoms:

Workflow runs, "succeeds," but the avatar in the cached output is the old face
New scenes regenerate with the new avatar (because they don't have cache)
Output is inconsistent across scenes

Recovery:

Wipe cache — forces all gens to redo with the new avatar URL
Bump V0-N — the URL change is a meaningful change
Re-run — fresh output with the new avatar throughout

Or, if you haven't yet re-uploaded but plan to:

Bump V0-N first
Update the avatar URL in the new V0-N
Wipe cache in the new V0-N
Re-run — clean from the start

If you've made cache changes you regret:

Find the pre-wipe backup in backups/
Restore the source .nbflow from that backup
The restored file has its original cache intact — work resumes from that state

The backup-before-destructive-change rhythm is what makes recovery possible.

When you're ready¶

You've finished Chapter 13. This is the end of the linear textbook — from here, the wiki is reference. Go back to specific chapters when you need them.

→ The wiki's final pages, in case you missed them: Skills for skill-specific deep dives, Glossary for term lookups.