What do you compare before deleting a CI cache?

A Software Q&A prompt about cache keys, lockfiles, generated files, and first failing lines before cache deletion.

When a CI job fails only after cache restore, I want to compare the cache key, lockfile hash, runtime version, restored paths, and first failing line before deleting anything. A cache delete may be the right recovery step, but it should not erase the diagnosis. What do you capture first?