Tips & tricks

Ingest before you delete

Nothing gets retired or deleted until its history is proven to exist somewhere durable, at entry level, with a count and a sample.

The move

Nothing gets retired, deleted, or replaced until its history is proven to exist somewhere durable, at entry level, not by summary.

When to use it

When closing chats, retiring tools, or switching providers. Prove the archive holds the material first, then delete. The proof is a count and a sample, not a green checkmark.

Steps

1. Count the source material at entry level.
2. Prove the same count, or an explained difference, in the archive.
3. Sample individual entries, including the awkward ones.
4. Only then delete, and record what was proven.

The gotcha

A summary that says "archived" is a claim about the archive, made by the system you are about to delete. Verify it independently before the delete makes verification impossible.

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