Cache warmup

The Cache warmup tab lets you manage warmup configurations — precompute and cache filter data so catalog pages load instantly on first request.

Why warmup

On first open of a catalog page, mFilter runs three heavy steps:

1. baseIds — load all product IDs in the category
2. filter values — compute available filter values (brands, colors, sizes)
3. suggestions — count products for each filter value

For large catalogs (10 000+ products) this can take 5–60 seconds. Warmup runs these steps in the background and stores results in cache.

Configuration table

Column	Description
ID	Configuration ID
Name	Configuration name
Element	Data snippet (msProducts, pdoResources)
Pages	Number of bound catalog pages
Auto	“Auto” if created automatically
Last warmup	Date and duration of last warmup
Status	Active / Disabled

Creating a configuration

Automatic

On first visit to any catalog page with filters, a configuration is created automatically. The table shows a row marked Auto bound to that page.

Manual

1. Click Add configuration
2. Enter a name (optional — generated from element and date)
3. Choose Element (msProducts, pdoResources, etc.)
4. Paste the snippet call into “Snippet call” and click Parse — parameters fill in automatically
5. Select catalog pages in the resource tree
6. Click Save

Parsing snippet calls

Three formats are supported:

Fenom:

{'!mFilter'|snippet:['element' => 'msProducts', 'parents' => $_modx->resource.id, 'limit' => 12]}

MODX tag:

[[!mFilter? &element=`msProducts` &parents=`5` &limit=`12`]]

JSON:

{"element": "msProducts", "parents": 5, "limit": 12}

Configuration editor

Left column

• Name — arbitrary label
• Element — data snippet (msProducts, pdoResources, etc.)
• Snippet call — paste call code here and parse parameters
• Parameters — key/value table of snippet properties
• Active — enable/disable configuration

Right column

• Resource tree — select catalog pages (lazy loading and bulk select buttons)

Подсказка

When you check a parent category, child resources load and are selected automatically.

Running warmup

From the manager (synchronous)

Click Warm all — warmup runs in the current request. Suitable for small catalogs or testing.

Via Scheduler (background)

Click Via Scheduler — a scheduled job runs on cron. Recommended for large catalogs.

Single configuration

Click the lightning icon in the row — only that configuration is warmed.

“+ counters” checkbox

On by default. When enabled, warmup also computes and caches:

• Filter values (used by the mFilterForm filter form)
• Facet counters (product count per value)

If unchecked, only baseIds are cached.

Recurring warmup

The mfl_warmup task is recurring by default — every 50 minutes. With default cache TTL (3600 sec = 1 hour) the cache is refreshed with a ~10 minute margin and does not expire between runs.

Tuning interval

Interval and TTL depend on the project:

Scenario	TTL	Interval	Description
Small catalog	3600	3000	Default
Medium catalog	7200	6000	Warmup every 100 min
Large catalog	14400	10800	Warmup every 3 hours
Rare updates	86400	43200	Twice per day

• TTL — system setting mfilter.cache_lifetime
• Interval — interval field on Scheduler task mfl_warmup

Important

Warmup interval must be less than cache TTL. If warmup takes N minutes, use: TTL - N - margin.

When products change

Scenario	Action
Regular price/stock import	Nothing — recurring task updates cache
Bulk product import	Run warmup manually via Via Scheduler
Filter structure changed	Clear cache (Maintenance → Clear cache) + run warmup