Retain or delete Compute results
What expires when you close a job: access, stored results, your own copies and keys, and how to confirm deletion.
Identify every copy first
Start with the accepted result and list each copy you may need to retain or remove. Record the data class, owner, retention trigger, duration or expiry event and any hold. One period may not apply to everything.
Your agent can help identify the copies and the next supported action. Lithi records the result and safe evidence; the person or organization that owns each copy remains responsible for its retention decision and read-back.
| Data or authority | Question to answer |
|---|---|
| Encrypted result artifacts | How long are the objects retained, and what ends retention? |
| Temporary access | When does this grant expire, and may access be renewed? |
| Local downloads and decrypted copies | Which team member or system owns cleanup? |
| Destination copies and versions | Which destination policy governs their retention? |
| Keys and recipient access | What can be revoked, and which retained copies remain readable? |
| Receipts and safe metadata | What evidence must remain after content deletion? |
| Backups and held data | Which exceptions apply, and how is their eventual disposal recorded? |
Do not publish or rely on a guessed number of days. The selected policy and relevant data class determine the period. Read the current account policy before acting.
Running a task does not by itself extend retention or authorize an exact-copy learning dataset or model training. If a secondary use is permitted, identify its purpose, scope and governing policy separately from the task's result-retention rule. See Privacy and data use.
Expired access is not deleted content
A temporary URL can expire while its artifact remains retained. A credential can be revoked while a previous download still exists. A NOT_FOUND response can also protect account isolation; it does not prove that content was erased.
Likewise, removing a key is not proof that every plaintext copy was removed. Deleting a local file does not delete a destination version. Keep access, content retention and key lifecycle as separate records.
Request scoped deletion
Use the supported account deletion or support process. Identify the job, result and each owned copy, then state exactly which data you are asking to delete. Review effects before approving a destructive action. A request to delete an artifact does not authorize changing the account's retention policy.
Check whether a hold or other policy exception applies. Do not clear a hold merely to make a cleanup status appear successful. Keep the unresolved scope visible and route it to the authorized owner.
Separate requested, acknowledged and confirmed deletion in your records. These are review stages, not invented API status values. A confirmation must identify the covered objects, observation time and excluded or deferred copies.
Read back the consequence
After the supported action finishes, obtain its authoritative read-back. Check the exact result, object versions and hold state. Record what content was removed, what metadata remains and which backup or destination obligations remain open.
Do not use an expired link as the read-back test. It tests access, not storage. Do not create another result to test deletion; that introduces new content and potentially new charges.
For a synthetic exercise, imagine one encrypted result, one laptop download and one destination copy. Expiring the result's access URL closes none of those three content-retention records. Confirm each copy under its own owner's process, then record the read-back for each scope.
Close the job's data record
Keep only the safe evidence your policy requires. Remove secrets and temporary access URLs from support notes and review records. Do not delete the audit trail merely because result content was removed.
When a required deletion cannot be confirmed, record the remaining object class, responsible owner and next read-back action. Do not replace an unknown outcome with a success label.
Review the applicable data and privacy boundaries before deciding which copies your team must retain or remove.