def METHOD_NAME(path: str) -> str:
    """Compute the SHA256 hash of a file and return it as a hex string."""
    # If the file doesn't exist, return an empty string.
    if not os.path.exists(path):
        return ""
    hash = hashlib.sha256()
    # Open the file in binary mode and hash it.
    with open(path, "rb") as f:
        for b in f:
            hash.update(b)
    # Return the hash as a hexadecimal string.
    return hash.hexdigest()