Evidence

Set audit retention

How long you keep decision records is a decision in itself, and the plugin treats shortening it as consequential.

  • Activity & evidence
  • 4 min read

What the free plugin keeps

Default
Retention is opt-in. Until you apply it, nothing is pruned on a schedule.
Once applied
Records older than 30 days, or beyond the newest 10,000 events, are pruned.
Where
The Audit Integrity screen.
Custom window
RuleFence Pro lets you choose 7 to 365 days and 1,000 to 1,000,000 events.

Both limits apply together. Whichever is reached first governs.

Removing evidence is gated

Applying retention removes everything outside the window, so the plugin asks you to confirm the permanent deletion first. With RuleFence Pro, extending the window is routine and applies immediately; shortening it needs the same confirmation. Destroying evidence should never happen as a side effect of adjusting a setting or accepting a default.

Pruned events cannot be recovered

Keep a copy first if there is any chance you will need the window you are about to drop — a full database backup, or an export with RuleFence Pro. See Export evidence for review.

Choosing a value

On the free plugin the window is 30 days or 10,000 events. If that does not fit, RuleFence Pro lets you set your own. Either way:

  • Start longer than feels necessary. The cost is database rows; the cost of the alternative is an incident you cannot reconstruct.
  • Match any obligation you already have. If your organisation keeps operational logs for a period, match it.
  • Consider request volume. A busy agent can reach an event ceiling long before a day ceiling.
  • Revisit after a month of real traffic, when you know your actual rate.

Retention and the chain

Pruning removes old events by design, so the chain covers the retained window. This is expected and is not a verification failure — a failure means the retained record is inconsistent, which is a different thing entirely.

Activity & evidence

Keep the boundary while you fix the problem.

A good fix restores intended behaviour without creating a second path around WordPress or the governed request lifecycle.

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