Refactor middleware for better readability

**Feature request**
It would be great to have caching for hooks.

**Use case**
Many users need this functionality for production deployments.

**Implementation idea**
Add a new config option `enable_caching` with default `false`.

Start by locating the middleware or hook configuration and execution entry points; the issue does not name specific files or tests. Confirm how hooks are currently invoked, then verify that an `enable_caching` option defaults to false and that enabled caching works for production deployments.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.