Manage Vault Data Retention Settings

Overview

Vault Data Retention governs a vault and everything inside it — its files and documents, queries and review tables. When a vault reaches the end of its retention period and is automatically deleted, all of this content is deleted together.

Vault retention is separate from your workspace's query retention. These two settings cover different things:

• Vault retention applies to all of the vaults in your workspace and their contents, including any queries and review tables that live within each vault. In-vault queries and review tables are not governed by workspace query retention.
• Workspace query retention applies to queries you run outside of Vault (for example, in Assistant).

Vault Data Retention can apply to all vaults based on either the vault creation date or the time of the last update. Your Harvey Customer Success Manager (CSM) will apply one of two options on your behalf:

• On vault creation

  • Delete vault x days* after the vault was created
• On vault update

  • Delete vault x days* after it was last updated

*The x value represents the configured number of days for your vault retention period

What Counts as a Vault Update?

When Vault retention is enabled with the "on vault update" setting, certain actions will reset the "last updated" timestamp and extend your vault's retention period. Here's a breakdown of what counts as an update and what doesn't.

Actions that trigger an update:

• Queries: Creating, deleting, renaming, or updating a query

  • Threads: Adding follow-up messages, regenerating content, editing, or creating new revisions
  • Review: Adding, editing, re-running, or deleting columns
• Files & Folders: Adding, modifying, renaming, moving, or deleting files or folders
• Vault Details: Updating the vault title
• Sharing & Access: Adding or removing users, changing access levels

Actions that do NOT trigger an update:

• Viewing a vault without making changes
• Searching its contents
• Favoriting a vault query in your history
• Providing feedback (thumbs up/down) in threads or Review cells
• Exporting a query
• Scheduled, automatic syncs from Document Management System (DMS)

Customizing Retention For Vaults

Custom retention periods can be applied at the client matter level. A client matter's retention policy overrides the workspace default for all associated vaults.

As with the workspace default, a client matter's retention period applies to the entire vault and everything in it, including its queries and Review tables.

For example, if your workspace Vault retention is 7 days from the last update, but the associated Client Matter is set to 30 days, the vault is retained for 30 days after no activity.

Set a Custom Retention Period on a Client Matter

To request a custom retention period for a client matter, reach out to your Harvey Customer Success Manager (CSM) and provide:

• The client matter the policy should apply to
• The retention period you'd like — a specific number of days, or Unlimited so vaults tied to the matter are never automatically deleted

Your CSM will apply the custom retention period. Once applied, it governs all vaults tied to that client matter and overrides the workspace default.

Checking a Vault’s Retention Period

To check when a vault will be automatically deleted, open its detail panel and check the deletion date.

What happens when an expiration date is approaching?

A vault that’s expiring in less than seven days will have a warning banner within the vault, and a red dot next to its name on the Vault homepage.

If Vault Email Notifications are enabled for retention-based deletion, users will also receive reminder emails 7 days and 1 day before expiration.

FAQs