How to flush a custom content source after the update of a story in Composer

[elawsonbody-cs]

Hello.

We are currently using a custom content source, based on content-api, configured as the global content source on all story templates in PageBuilder.

At the moment:

• This custom content source fetches story data from content-api
• It uses a TTL of 5 minutes

Our goal is to:

• Increase the TTL of this custom content source to several hours (for performance reasons)
• While still being able to see updated content immediately after a story is republished in Composer

We found the documentation related to automated cache clearing in Arc XP:
https://dev.arcxp.com/caching/automated-cache-clear/
However, it is not clear to us how (or if) this mechanism applies when the global content source is a custom endpoint rather than the default Composer/content-api integration.

Our questions are:

• Is there a way to trigger the flush of the cache of our custom endpoint after each update in composer ?
• Can we use for example the clear cache functionality of the debugger (e.g. with IFX) ?
  https://docs.arcxp.com/en/products/pagebuilder/pagebuilder-editor/developer-tools-overview/debugging-your-content.html#UUID-512986fe-9ddd-6888-78ab-7c22c9371807_UUID-e0f67a65-b0ab-62a2-0ec2-3e5d4e044539

We want to make sure we align with Arc XP’s supported caching model and avoid relying on unsupported or internal mechanisms.
Any guidance or confirmation of current limitations would be greatly appreciated.

[radominchev]

Hello @elawsonbody-cs

Yes, you can safely increase the TTL of your global content source to hours, as long as your global content response includes the story’s _id (and you do not strip it out). PageBuilder Engine uses the _id from the global content response to tag the rendered output, and that tag is what enables the automated cache clear flow when content is updated. If _id is missing, cache clear can’t reliably target the right PageBuilder content cache entry. Content Cashing In PB Engine

On the “will updates show immediately after republish?” part: for Composer stories, Arc XP’s automated cache clear is designed to invalidate cached content based on the story’s canonical URL and then trigger the PageBuilder cache clearing process. Importantly, even when this happens, PageBuilder clears only the global content source cache for the resolver configuration; secondary/feature content on the page is not automatically refreshed as part of the publish event and will continue to rely on its own TTL/expiration behavior. Automated Cache clear

About flushing “our custom endpoint” specifically

If your custom global content source points to your own service (or you have an additional caching layer in front of Content API), Arc XP’s automated cache clear can’t directly purge that third-party cache. Arc-managed cache clearing targets Arc layers (CDN/origin + PageBuilder caches), not arbitrary upstream services you operate. In that scenario, you have two practical patterns:

1. Keep the longer TTL at the PageBuilder content source cache level and rely on automated cache clear for Composer story republish (provided _id is preserved in global content). This is usually the simplest “supported model” alignment.

2. If you also cache inside your endpoint for hours, you’ll need your own invalidation mechanism (e.g., purge-by-id / purge-by-url in your service) triggered by your publish pipeline (outside the built-in Arc cache clear). Arc won’t automatically reach into that upstream cache.

Can you use the debugger / IFX cache clear?

For manual troubleshooting and validation, yes — PageBuilder Editor’s Content Debugger explicitly supports cache actions (Fetch, Update, Clear) against a specific content source and parameter set. That’s the supported way to force-refresh or clear PageBuilder’s content cache interactively. Debugging your content

What we wouldn’t recommend is treating the debugger (or any behind-the-scenes calls it makes) as an automated “purge on every publish” mechanism. It’s intended as a dev/support tool, not an event-driven invalidation API for production workflows.

If you need a supported manual “page URL purge”

If the operational requirement is “I need this page updated now,” the Delivery → Cache Clear tool is the supported manual lever. It clears the rendered page cache in Delivery and also clears PageBuilder Engine’s global content cache for that URL (again: primary/global content only). Clearing your website cache

Hope this helps.
Rado

[elawsonbody-cs]

Thank you for your answer, Rado.
It definitely helps and answers all the questions I had about this.