How long do prompts persist at each hop
Provider windows are bounded and per feature; the open-ended stores sit on your side of the API.
Tracing / observability SaaS
Until you delete it
∞
Memory / vector stores
Until you delete it
∞
Gateway observability console
Whatever the project setting says
∞
Uploaded files (provider Files API)
Until you delete them
∞
Abuse-flagged content
Up to 2 years (consumer policy)
Standard API logs (no ZDR)
Deleted within about 30 days
Fable 5 mandated retention
30 days, required even under ZDR
Batch jobs
29 days
Prompt caches
Minutes to 24 hours
ZDR-eligible payloads
Zero: never written at rest
0
24 hours
30 days
2 years
Until deleted
Windows shown are the documented defaults linked in this post. The time axis is compressed, not linear.