Function load_cached 

pub fn load_cached(
    path: &Path,
    reload_if_changed: bool,
) -> Result<Arc<Spec>, LoadError>

Load a spec from path, using the process-level cache.

Parameters

• path — filesystem path to a v2 JSON-UI spec file.
• reload_if_changed — when true, checks the file’s mtime against the cached mtime; if the file has changed, evicts and reloads. Set this from !Config::is_production() at the framework integration layer.

Returns

Ok(Arc<Spec>) on cache hit or successful load. The Arc is cloned from the cache entry — callers who need an owned Spec (e.g. for Spec::merge_data) must call (*arc).clone() to get a Spec (119-RESEARCH §Pitfall 1).

Errors

• LoadError::Io — file missing, unreadable, or canonicalize fails.
• LoadError::Parse — file contents are not a structurally valid Spec.
• LoadError::Catalog — spec parses but fails catalog validation.

Concurrency

Reads use a shared read lock. Writes (first load, reload) briefly acquire a write lock AFTER parsing and validation have completed — no fallible code runs inside the write guard, so the lock cannot be poisoned by a panic-throwing parser (119-RESEARCH §Pitfall 2).