Embodiments herein describe a configurable engine that is embedded into the cache hierarchy of a processor. The configurable engine can enable efficient data sharing between the main memory, cache memories, and the core. The configurable engine can perform operations that are more efficient to be done in the cache hierarchy. In one embodiment, the configurable engine is controlled (or configured) by software (e.g., the operating system (OS)), adapting to each application domain. That is, the OS can configure the engine according to a data flow profile of a particular application being executed by the processor.