What it does

Cache Guardian scans your scene's simulations (Cloth, Fluid/Smoke, Rigid Body, Soft Body, Particles, Geometry Nodes simulation zones) and reports whether each cache is baked, present on disk, and current — before you render or hand the file off.

Requirements

• Blender 4.2 LTS – 5.x

• No external dependencies, no network access

Installation

1. Download the .zip.

2. Blender: Edit > Preferences > Get Extensions/Add-ons > Install from Disk, select the zip.

3. Enable Cache Guardian.

Using it

1. Open the Cache Guardian tab in the 3D Viewport's N-panel.

2. Click Check Simulations.

3. Results are grouped by simulation type — each flagged item shows the object, a plain-language explanation, a Select Object button, and a Re-bake button where the fix can be applied automatically.

4. Click Export Report to write a plain-text report next to your saved .blend file (save the file first).

Preferences

Edit > Preferences > Add-ons > Cache Guardian

• Check simulations before render — runs all checks automatically right before rendering and shows a non-blocking popup if unresolved errors exist. Never blocks or cancels the render.

What gets checked

Known limitations (v1.0)

• Disk cache checks sample a handful of frames rather than verifying every frame.

• Linked/library objects are flagged but not re-baked (read-only).

• Geometry Nodes bake detection is heuristic — inferred from packed data-blocks or on-disk content, since Blender doesn't expose a direct "is baked" flag for sim zones.

• No multi-file batch scanning, conflict resolution, or rebake queue in v1.0 (planned Pro features, shown as locked rows).

FAQ

Does it support Geometry Nodes simulation zones? Yes, both PACKED and DISK bake targets. Detection is heuristic since Blender's NodesModifierBake has no direct "is baked" boolean — this is documented as the most actively-evolving part of the check set.

What's in the Export Report? A plain-text summary of the last scan, written next to your saved .blend file — useful for QC logs, farm-submission checklists, or client hand-off notes. You must save the .blend first.

Will this fix my caches automatically without asking? No. Cache Guardian only flags and reports by default. Re-baking is always an explicit, one-click action you trigger per item.

Does it work in headless/background renders (farm nodes)? The checks themselves run fine in --background mode; the pre-render popup is a UI element and only appears in interactive sessions. For farm QC, run Check Simulations and Export Report locally before submission.