# Set data retention

[Read this page in HTML](https://www.scopedb.io/docs/guides/data-retention)

Use a table-level retention policy to make stored data eligible for asynchronous expiration after a configured window. ScopeDB accepts a whole number from 1 through 1825 days. Tables have no automatic retention policy unless you configure one.

Retention is a table lifecycle policy, not a row-level time-to-live rule. It does not use a timestamp column from your data to decide when an individual row expires. Because enforcement is asynchronous, eligible data may remain queryable for some time.

## Check or set retention in Console or Catalog

In Console, open **Data**, select a table, and open **Manage** to check its current **Retention** setting. Select **Edit table** (or set **Retention** during **Create table**) to configure a retention window in days or choose **Never expire**, then select **Review changes**.

In the [Catalog API](https://www.scopedb.io/docs/api-reference/catalog.md) or [`scope catalog`](https://www.scopedb.io/docs/guides/scopedb-cli/catalog.md), `retention_days` controls the policy on the table definition:

```json
{
  "name": "events",
  "columns": [
    { "name": "time", "data_type": "timestamp" },
    { "name": "service", "data_type": "string" },
    { "name": "name", "data_type": "string" },
    { "name": "message", "data_type": "string" },
    { "name": "var", "data_type": "object" }
  ],
  "retention_days": 30
}
```

* Set `"retention_days"` to an integer from `1` through `1825` when creating or updating a table.
* Shortening an existing table's `retention_days` (or adding a retention limit where none was set) is a potentially destructive change because existing data can become eligible for removal. Preview the change with `dry_run=true` (or `scope catalog plan`) and pass `allow_destructive=true` (`--allow-destructive` in the CLI) when applying it.
* Set `"retention_days": null` (or omit `retention_days`) to remove the automatic retention policy. Removing or increasing the policy does not restore data that ScopeDB has already expired.
* Inspect a table's current retention setting from the terminal with `scope catalog get --table scopedb.public.events`; `retention_days` is `null` when the table has no automatic retention policy.

## Choose a retention window

Use a window that matches how long the table remains useful and any retention requirements that apply to the data. If datasets need different windows, keep them in separate tables so each table can have its own policy.

## Related contents

* [Tables in Console](https://www.scopedb.io/docs/guides/console-tables.md)

* [Catalog over HTTP](https://www.scopedb.io/docs/api-reference/catalog.md)

* [Manage the Catalog with the CLI](https://www.scopedb.io/docs/guides/scopedb-cli/catalog.md)