> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.plannotator.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Understand Workspaces Retention and Deletion

> Understand anonymous workspace expiry, deletion, product telemetry, cached copies, and self-hosted backups.

An anonymous workspace expires after 30 days without activity. Workspaces
records at most one deadline refresh per day. All activity that day shares that
refresh. Claim the workspace before the date shown to remove the expiry.
Deletion blocks new access, but stored or cached bytes may remain until cleanup.
Hosted Workspaces also records a small set of product-use events without user,
workspace, document, or request identifiers.

## Anonymous workspace expiry

These actions affect the expiry date:

| Activity                                              | Counts as activity? |
| ----------------------------------------------------- | ------------------- |
| Reading, commenting, or editing in the Workspaces app | Yes                 |
| Authenticated API or MCP read or write                | Yes                 |
| Opening or using a live collaboration session         | Yes                 |
| Raw-file or `/s` read                                 | No                  |
| Git clone or fetch                                    | No                  |
| Appearing in a workspace list                         | No                  |

Raw-file requests, `/s` reads, and Git do not extend the expiry date. This
prevents automated reads on those paths from keeping an unused share active.

After the expiry date, normal app and API reads and writes return `404`,
Workspaces denies new live connections, and MCP tools report that the workspace
does not exist. Cleanup runs about once a minute. Public raw, `/s`, and Git
reads may continue until cleanup removes the workspace, so those forms of
access may continue for a few minutes. Stored bytes may remain briefly until
cleanup.

Claim before the date shown. After that deadline, the browser cannot load the
workspace for you to keep it.

## Claim an anonymous workspace

1. Open the workspace's **Share link** control.
2. Select **Sign up to keep it**, then finish sign-in.
3. Open **Unclaimed**.
4. Select **Claim this workspace**.

Claiming removes the expiry date and makes you the owner.

Workspaces created while signed in also have no anonymous expiry date.

Claiming does not make the workspace private. It stays open until you change its
[visibility and guest links](/workspaces/sharing/who-can-access-a-workspace).

## Delete a workspace

You cannot restore a deleted workspace. Only the workspace owner can delete it.
Open **Workspace settings**, find **Danger**, and choose **Delete workspace**.
After deletion, new app, API, and raw-file requests cannot reach the workspace.

Deletion has limits:

* Stored bytes may remain until cleanup. Workspaces does not promise a cleanup
  date.
* Workspaces cannot recall files that someone downloaded or that a browser or
  another cache still holds.
* Deletion may not disconnect everyone who already has the document open.
* Deletion does not erase independent self-hosted backups.

If you self-host, follow your backup retention policy and remove backup copies
separately when the policy requires it.

## Product telemetry

Hosted Workspaces records a fixed set of server-side product events in
Cloudflare Workers Analytics Engine. It records when someone:

* Creates a workspace or organization.
* Creates or changes a document through the document API.
* Restores a version or changes workspace visibility.
* Opens a live session, creates a root comment, or publishes an artifact.
* Creates an API key, completes sign-in, or clones or fetches a workspace with Git.

Each event may include broad categories such as the document type, visibility,
view or edit mode, sign-in provider, or whether the request came from an
anonymous guest, signed-in person, or API key. Events do not include:

* User, workspace, or document IDs.
* Slugs, paths, titles, emails, IP addresses, or user-agent strings.
* Tokens, API keys, or request URLs.

The events use no browser cookie or client-side analytics script. Cloudflare
[keeps Analytics Engine data for three months](https://developers.cloudflare.com/analytics/analytics-engine/limits/#data-retention).

Self-hosted Workspaces does not send product telemetry to Plannotator. The
container does not record it. The Cloudflare recipe leaves it off by default.
If an operator enables it, the events stay in that operator's Cloudflare
account. See [Self-hosted Workspaces](/workspaces/self-hosting/).

*Reviewed July 22, 2026. Maintained by the Plannotator documentation team.*