I want to have a function that can use functools.lru_cache, but not by default. I am looking for a way to use a function parameter that can be used to disable the lru_cache. Currently, I have a two versions of the function, one with lru_cache and one without. Then I have another function that wraps these with a parameter that can be used to control which function is used

def _no_cache(foo):print('_no_cache')return 1@lru_cache()
def _with_cache(foo):print('_with_cache')return 0def cache(foo, use_cache=False):if use_cache:return _with_cache(foo)return _no_cache(foo)

Is there a simpler way to do this?

You can't disable the cache from inside the decorated function. However, you can simplify your code a bit by accessing the function directly via the __wrapped__ attribute.

From the documentation:

The original underlying function is accessible through the __wrapped__attribute. This is useful for introspection, for bypassing the cache,or for rewrapping the function with a different cache.

Demo:

from functools import lru_cache@lru_cache()
def f(arg):print(f"called with {arg}")return arg    def call(arg, use_cache=False):if use_cache:return f(arg)return f.__wrapped__(arg)call(1)
call(1, True)
call(2, True)
call(1, True)

Output:

called with 1
called with 1
called with 2