Archiving

Archiving is Symbol's soft-delete. When you're not sure about permanently deleting a capsule, archive it instead. Archived capsules are kept until you unarchive or delete them: archiving is reversible shelving, not removal.

Think of it as setting something aside. You can always bring it back, along with the ways people reached it.

How Archiving WorksCopy Anchor Link

When you archive a capsule:

1. It's removed from your active capsule lists and search results
2. It becomes read-only. You can view the content but not edit it
3. A clear indicator shows the capsule is archived
4. Its sharing is paused: share links, its public page, its published skill and its embeds stop answering while it is archived

You can unarchive a capsule at any time to restore it to its active state, subject to the capsule's permissions (unarchiving lifts the archived read-only lock, but an organization view-only capsule stays read-only for members).

Sharing Pauses, It Does Not EndCopy Anchor Link

Archiving never revokes a share link and never changes a capsule's visibility. While a capsule is archived, anyone who opens one of its links sees the same "unavailable" page as for a link that no longer works, its public page and vanity address stop answering, it leaves the public directory, a published skill drops out of the marketplace, and its embeds stop serving. When you restore it, the same links, the same public page and the same skill work again. Nobody has to share anything twice.

Before you confirm, the archive dialog tells you how many links and what else will pause. After restoring, Symbol tells you what came back.

Links that an archive ended before archiving worked this way stay ended. A link you revoke yourself always stays revoked.

Who Can Bring Sharing BackCopy Anchor Link

Anyone who can edit a capsule can archive it, so content can always be taken out of circulation quickly.

Restoring is different when the capsule had sharing to bring back. Restoring a capsule whose links, public page or published skill would work again needs the right to manage its sharing: its owner, or an organization owner or Admin for shared organization content. A teammate who archived someone else's shared capsule can't restore it themselves; the dialog says so before they archive, and the owner or an Admin can restore it in one click. Restoring a capsule with nothing shared needs only edit access.

API keys and assistant connections also need the share scope to restore a capsule with sharing to bring back.

Restoring and Your PlanCopy Anchor Link

Restoring a capsule counts toward your plan's capsule limit, just like creating one. On the Free plan, a restore that would take you past the limit is refused and tells you how many slots are free.

Automatic ArchivingCopy Anchor Link

A Type can archive capsules automatically once they haven't been touched for a number of days (Archive after, in the Type's lifecycle settings). Archiving this way pauses sharing exactly like archiving by hand.

Because one setting can archive every capsule in a Type:

• On an organization Type, only an organization editor or owner can change it. On a personal Type, its owner can.
• Before you save, Symbol shows how many capsules are already past the new value and would be archived on the next run, and how many links would pause, then asks you to confirm. Raising the value or turning it off needs no confirmation.
• Editing a Type's fields never counts as touching its capsules, so it does not postpone automatic archiving or change which capsules show as stale.

LogsCopy Anchor Link

Appending an entry to an archived log, or to a log whose owner is archived, is refused with a message asking you to restore it first. Editing or deleting an entry that is already in an archived log is refused the same way. Writing never brings an archived log back on its own.

Deleting a capsule that owns a log asks first, naming the log and how many entries it holds. If you can delete the log, it is deleted with the capsule. If the log belongs to someone else, it is kept as its own capsule.

Where Archived Capsules Are VisibleCopy Anchor Link

Archiving deliberately limits where capsules appear. The goal is to keep your active workspace clean while still letting you review and recover content when needed.

MCP VisibilityCopy Anchor Link

Archived capsules are left out of MCP listings and search unless an assistant asks for archived capsules. AI assistants and integrations should work with active, current knowledge, so archived content does not pollute those results.

An assistant can still open an archived capsule it found, by id or by reference. The reply says the capsule is archived and that it can be restored from Archive in the web app. Editing it, or adding it to a project, is refused with the same explanation rather than reported as missing.

Archived capsules are also not hidden from backlinks and the reference graph. A reference to an archived capsule is still a real connection, so both the backlinks and graph tools include archived capsules and mark them as archived. This keeps the knowledge graph honest and means unarchiving a capsule restores its links exactly as they were.

Browser and Mobile AppCopy Anchor Link

You can view archived capsules in the browser and mobile app so you can review the content and decide whether to unarchive. The capsule detail page shows the full content in a read-only state with a clear archived indicator.

SnapshotsCopy Anchor Link

Restoring a snapshot returns each capsule to the state the snapshot captured. A capsule that was active in the snapshot and has been archived since comes back active, with its links and public page working again. The restore dialog lists those capsules before you confirm, and a restore through an API key needs the share scope to bring them back.

On the Free plan, if a snapshot holds more active capsules than the plan allows, the extra capsules come back archived instead of the restore being refused. Upgrading brings them back.

Lifecycle SummaryCopy Anchor Link

Active → Archive (sharing paused) → (kept indefinitely) → Unarchive → Active (sharing resumed)

• Archive: Sets archived_at timestamp, hides from active views, makes the capsule read-only, pauses its links, public page, published skill and embeds
• Unarchive: Clears archived_at, restores the active state and its sharing (editability then follows the capsule's own permissions)
• Deleting an archived capsule follows the normal delete path; archiving on its own never deletes anything