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Prefix caching in a multi-turn chatbot: how do client-side and server-side caching cut redundant compute, and what breaks correctness?

Each chat turn resends the whole conversation, so the model re-prefills the same prefix every time. Server-side KV caching and client-side cache breakpoints kill that redundant compute, but exact-prefix matching and stale entries are where teams silently get it wrong.

Updated Aug 2026 · Grounded in real Forward Deployed Engineer interview loops and written to a senior-engineer editorial bar.

Each chat turn resends the whole conversation, so the model re-prefills the same prefix every time. Server-side KV caching and client-side cache breakpoints kill that redundant compute, but exact-prefix matching and stale entries are where teams silently get it wrong.

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