# 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.

From the [Tips & tricks](../index.md#tips) section of [The Muse Field Guide](../index.md).

## 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.

## Where this came from

Retiring two vendor fleets began with proving their histories were already in the household store: 926 sessions and 218,189 messages for one of them, including entry-level proof for every one of 557 distinct dead-letter items.

Deep dive: [Practices and tips: the resource core](../deep-dives/practices.md)

Related resources: [Pre-register kill criteria](pre-register-kill-criteria.md), [The Verify lane: one claim at a time](the-verify-lane.md)

Canonical page: https://www.niclydon.io/muse/items/ingest-before-you-delete.html