Deletion is the one step that cannot be undone
Retention schedules exist but are seldom applied, because data keeps accumulating past its period. To delete, you must be certain. That certainty requires checks that are tedious.
The legal hold is what matters most. Any record within the scope of a hold must remain beyond its retention period. Deleting one is a serious issue, even if the schedule was correct.
How long records are kept also varies by record type rather than by file. Different retention periods may apply to the same kind of document depending on the jurisdiction, the contract, or the category. A single global rule is not suitable for most portfolios.
Because deletion cannot be undone, the flow produces a list and does not act on it. Approval and deletion stay with people, and a record of approved items is part of the process, not an extra feature.
How the ActionFlow runs on the canvas
The retention schedule is stored in an Airtable node that specifies the record type, the period, the start date of the period, and the jurisdiction or category to which it applies.
A Start Scheduled node runs the review. A PostgreSQL node and an S3 or Dropbox node enumerate records with their creation or trigger dates.
A Date node calculates elapsed time from the schedule row associated with each record, rather than from a single rule.
A Filter node produces the candidate set. The important step is then a second Filter node that removes all items within the scope of any active legal hold. Those holds are read from an Airtable node that holds the hold register.
The Validate node confirms that the hold register has been read and is current. That check is there to prevent a retention run that proceeds without checking the holds.
The Generate Object node groups the candidates by record type, with counts and a schedule row for each group, so the approver sees categories rather than a list of thousands.
A Create Excel node produces the approval list. A Notion node holds it. A Slack node sends it to the records owner.
A person deletes in the source system after approval.
Nodes this ActionFlow uses
- Airtable (Integration): holds the retention schedule and, separately, the legal hold register.
- Start Scheduled: runs the review on your cycle.
- PostgreSQL (Data): enumerates records with trigger dates. S3 and Dropbox cover stored files.
- Date (Util): computes elapsed time against each record's own schedule row.
- Filter (Data): produces candidates, then removes everything within scope of an active hold.
- Validate (Data): confirms the hold register was read and is current before anything proceeds.
- Create Excel (Data): produces the approval list grouped by record type.
- Slack (Human in the Loop): sends it to the records owner. A person performs deletion.
Frequently asked questions
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