now it works

requestcache.py

@@ -4,6 +4,12 @@ import io
 import sys
 from pathlib import Path
 
+def url_to_filename(url):
+    return base64.b64encode(url.encode('utf8')).decode('utf8')
+
+def filename_to_url(filename):
+    return base64.b64decode(filename.encode('utf8')).decode('utf8')
+
 class RequestCache:
     def __init__(self, cache_dir):
         self.cache_dir = cache_dir
@@ -14,20 +20,27 @@ class RequestCache:
         files_list = [p for p in folder.iterdir() if p.is_file()]
         for file in files_list:
             fname = file.name
-            unbase = base64.standard_b64decode(fname)
-            self.cache[unbase] = fname
+            unbase = filename_to_url(fname)
+            self.cache[fname] = unbase
 
     def get_cache(self, url):
-        b64 = base64.urlsafe_b64encode(url)
-        if b64 in self.cache:
-            return open(self.cache[b64],'r').read()
+        filename = url_to_filename(url)
+        print("looking for filename:", filename)
+        if filename in self.cache:
+            print("fetching local copy")
+
+            return open(Path(self.cache_dir) / filename,'r').read()
         else:
             try:
+                print("have to go to internet to fetch")
                 response = requests.get(url)
                 data = response.text
-                file_path = self.cache_dir / b64
+                file_path = Path(self.cache_dir) / filename
                 with open(file_path, 'w') as f:
                     f.write(data)
+                print("updating cache dict")
+                self.cache[filename] = url
+                return data
             except Exception as e:
                 print(f"Error {str(e)}")