Trace first
Collect prompt length, repeated context, latency, and hit-rate assumptions before changing routing.
vLLM KV cache
Plan cache rollout around real inference traffic.
Before enabling an LMCache-compatible layer for vLLM, estimate reuse, sample staging traces, and decide how cache keys align with router behavior.
Roll out gradually
Start with read-only estimates, then staged cache writes, then limited production traffic.
Watch misses
Miss spikes often reveal unstable prompts, tenant mixing risk, or stale context boundaries.