Troubleshooting Archives

The archive row exists, but download fails

Check:

• whether the file is still available and not already deleted
• whether you are trying to download a row that only preserves metadata
• whether access or cleanup happened since the last refresh

I expected older archives, but they are missing

Typical causes:

• retention or cleanup already removed them
• archive generation for that period did not run as assumed
• the current filter hides older rows

Archive statistics look larger or smaller than expected

Check:

• whether you compare row count, file count, and total size consistently
• whether deleted rows still appear as historical metadata
• whether one import or cleanup phase changed the visible totals

I am not sure whether the issue belongs to archives or payload retention

Use this rule of thumb:

• Archives is about retained archive objects and their lifecycle
• message payload visibility belongs to Message Popups

When to use the technical docs

Switch to /sysdocs when you need:

• archive persistence and lifecycle internals
• worker loops and retention flow
• backend module ownership
• deletion-state and file-availability details