cache: Short TTL negative cache for 404/410 depot objects

Stop re-fetching gone depot objects on every miss: store 404/410 in the
existing VFS cache under the same key with a short TTL (default 5m).

config/config.go

@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import (
 	"net"
 	"os"
 	"strings"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/docker/go-units"
 	"gopkg.in/yaml.v3"
@@ -35,6 +36,11 @@ type CacheConfig struct {
 
 	// Disk cache settings
 	Disk DiskConfig `yaml:"disk"`
+
+	// NegativeTTL is a Go duration string for cached 404/410 depot objects
+	// (same VFS key as a positive hit). Empty defaults to 5m. "0" disables
+	// storing negatives (the client still receives the upstream 404/410).
+	NegativeTTL string `yaml:"negative_ttl"`
 }
 
 type MemoryConfig struct {
@@ -100,6 +106,9 @@ func LoadConfig(configPath string) (*Config, error) {
 	if config.Cache.Disk.GCAlgorithm == "" {
 		config.Cache.Disk.GCAlgorithm = "lru"
 	}
+	if config.Cache.NegativeTTL == "" {
+		config.Cache.NegativeTTL = "5m"
+	}
 
 	return &config, nil
 }
@@ -126,6 +135,7 @@ func SaveDefaultConfig(configPath string) error {
 				Path:        "./disk",
 				GCAlgorithm: "lru", // Better for gaming patterns (keeps recently played games)
 			},
+			NegativeTTL: "5m",
 		},
 		Upstream: "",
 	}
@@ -162,6 +172,7 @@ func GetDefaultConfig() Config {
 				Path:        "./disk",
 				GCAlgorithm: "lru",
 			},
+			NegativeTTL: "5m",
 		},
 		Upstream: "",
 	}
@@ -188,6 +199,16 @@ func (c Config) Validate() error {
 		return fmt.Errorf("disk cache enabled but no path specified")
 	}
 
+	if c.Cache.NegativeTTL != "" {
+		d, err := time.ParseDuration(c.Cache.NegativeTTL)
+		if err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("invalid cache.negative_ttl: %w", err)
+		}
+		if d < 0 {
+			return fmt.Errorf("invalid cache.negative_ttl: negative duration")
+		}
+	}
+
 	// Light validation for security/resource fields (mirrors existing GC + path checks; fails fast before New)
 	if c.MaxObjectSize != "" && c.MaxObjectSize != "0" {
 		if _, err := units.FromHumanSize(c.MaxObjectSize); err != nil {

config/config_test.go

@@ -156,6 +156,44 @@ func TestValidate(t *testing.T) {
 			}(),
 			wantErr: false,
 		},
+		{
+			name: "valid negative_ttl duration",
+			cfg: func() Config {
+				c := GetDefaultConfig()
+				c.Cache.NegativeTTL = "1m"
+				return c
+			}(),
+			wantErr: false,
+		},
+		{
+			name: "empty negative_ttl ok",
+			cfg: func() Config {
+				c := GetDefaultConfig()
+				c.Cache.NegativeTTL = ""
+				return c
+			}(),
+			wantErr: false,
+		},
+		{
+			name: "invalid negative_ttl",
+			cfg: func() Config {
+				c := GetDefaultConfig()
+				c.Cache.NegativeTTL = "not-a-duration"
+				return c
+			}(),
+			wantErr: true,
+			errSub:  "invalid cache.negative_ttl",
+		},
+		{
+			name: "negative duration negative_ttl",
+			cfg: func() Config {
+				c := GetDefaultConfig()
+				c.Cache.NegativeTTL = "-1s"
+				return c
+			}(),
+			wantErr: true,
+			errSub:  "invalid cache.negative_ttl",
+		},
 	}
 
 	for _, tt := range tests {