diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index a8a9242..3ab10a7 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -473,9 +473,11 @@ nor change what it asks for.
    `jxl` for a form with no format.
 
 The token holds the source's host, path and query and the size, format, quality,
-fit and expiry, encrypted with a key derived from `signing_key`. The source
-URL's scheme is not kept: the image is fetched like any other (see Routes), and
-the blocked networks still apply.
+fit and expiry, encrypted with a key derived from `signing_key`. The host is
+kept in lower case and an empty path as `/`, as for `/v1/image/`, so
+`https://CDN.Example.com` and `https://cdn.example.com/` are one source image,
+fetched and cached once. The source URL's scheme is not kept: the image is
+fetched like any other (see Routes), and the blocked networks still apply.
 
 How long the URL lasts is chosen on the page, from 1 minute to 1 year, or never.
 The expiry is fixed in the token when the URL is made and cannot be changed or
diff --git a/TODO.md b/TODO.md
index 4c56de7..3817c02 100644
--- a/TODO.md
+++ b/TODO.md
@@ -30,6 +30,11 @@ P2: security: per-origin rate limiting
 
 # Completed Steps
 
+- 2026-10-16 the generator page lower-cases the source host and writes an empty
+  source path as `/` before it makes the encrypted URL, as `/v1/image/` does
+  (closes #293). A host written in upper and in lower case, or a source URL with
+  no path and with the path `/`, made two cache keys and two upstream requests
+  for one image.
 - 2026-10-16 the source URL a request fetches is built with `net/url` from the
   source host, path and query, not joined as text (closes #288). The source
   path, decoded, is fetched percent-encoded again, so `100%25.png` fetches
diff --git a/internal/handlers/auth.go b/internal/handlers/auth.go
index d51b569..27105f2 100644
--- a/internal/handlers/auth.go
+++ b/internal/handlers/auth.go
@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ func (s *Handlers) HandleGenerateURL() http.HandlerFunc {
 		sourceURL := r.FormValue("url")
 
 		// Validate source URL
-		parsed, err := url.Parse(sourceURL)
+		parsed, err := parseSourceURL(sourceURL)
 		if err != nil || parsed.Host == "" {
 			s.renderGeneratorWithForm(w, r, "Invalid source URL", r.Form,
 				http.StatusBadRequest)
@@ -198,6 +198,25 @@ func (s *Handlers) HandleGenerateURL() http.HandlerFunc {
 	}
 }
 
+// parseSourceURL parses the source URL entered on the generator page with its
+// host lower-cased and an empty path written as "/", as /v1/image/ reads a
+// source URL, so that each spelling of one source URL makes one cache key and
+// one upstream request.
+func parseSourceURL(sourceURL string) (*url.URL, error) {
+	parsed, err := url.Parse(sourceURL)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	parsed.Host = strings.ToLower(parsed.Host)
+
+	if parsed.Path == "" {
+		parsed.Path = "/"
+	}
+
+	return parsed, nil
+}
+
 // fetchedAsWritten reports whether fetchURL, the URL pixa fetches for an
 // image URL made from the source URL source, is source as it was written,
 // apart from the scheme, which the token does not keep. It is not when source