Data retention

Every request produces two kinds of data: the JSON payloads (the input you sent and the output the model returned, which power your dashboard history) and the media files the model generated, hosted on the ModelRunner CDN. Each has its own default retention and its own control.

Data	Default	Control
Request payloads (input / output JSON)	180 days	`X-Modelrunner-Store-IO: 0` to opt out, or delete on demand
Generated media (CDN files)	Kept until you delete it	`X-Modelrunner-Object-Lifecycle-Preference`
Uploaded input files	Kept until you delete them	Same header, on the upload call

The 180-day payload default applies to requests created on or after this policy took effect. Older requests are kept until you delete them — nothing was removed retroactively.

Generated media

Set an expiration on the files a request produces with the X-Modelrunner-Object-Lifecycle-Preference header:

curl -X POST "https://queue.modelrunner.run/{ownerName}/{modelName}" \
  -H "Authorization: Key $MODELRUNNER_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H 'X-Modelrunner-Object-Lifecycle-Preference: {"expiration_duration_seconds": 3600}' \
  -d '{"prompt": "a sunset"}'

const result = await modelrunner.subscribe('owner/model-name', {
	input: { prompt: 'a sunset' },
	headers: {
		'X-Modelrunner-Object-Lifecycle-Preference': JSON.stringify({
			expiration_duration_seconds: 3600,
		}),
	},
})

import json

result = modelrunner.subscribe(
    "owner/model-name",
    arguments={"prompt": "a sunset"},
    headers={
        "X-Modelrunner-Object-Lifecycle-Preference": json.dumps(
            {"expiration_duration_seconds": 3600}
        )
    },
)

Field	Notes
`expiration_duration_seconds`	Integer seconds, from 60 up to 157,680,000 (5 years). Use `null` for no expiration.

The countdown starts when the request finishes, not when you submit it — so a 60-second expiration on a model that takes two minutes still gives you a full minute of file life after the output exists.

Expired files are permanently deleted and cannot be recovered. Download anything you need to keep before it expires.

The same header works on file uploads, setting an expiration on the file you upload — send it on POST /storage/upload/initiate. There the countdown starts at upload time, since the bytes are landing immediately. One exception is worth knowing: an uploaded file that you then use as a request input stops expiring. Another request may reference the same upload, so we stop treating it as disposable. The same applies to a file you favorite, tag, or use as a model, wrapper or collection image. Delete those explicitly when you are done with them.

For a multipart upload, send the header on POST /storage/upload/complete instead — that is the call that records the file.One client-side gap: the JavaScript SDK’s storage.upload() switches to multipart above 90 MB and completes that upload without going through the API, so a lifecycle option is not applied to files that large. Use the raw HTTP flow, or delete large uploads explicitly.

Access controls are not supported

CDN URLs are unguessable but public to anyone holding the link. There is no per-user access-control list, and an initial_acl field in the lifecycle header is rejected with a 400 rather than ignored — a silently-dropped ACL would leave you believing files are private when they are readable. Treat the URL itself as the secret, and use a short expiration for sensitive output.

Request payloads

Inputs and outputs are stored for 180 days, which is what makes your dashboard history work. To keep them out of storage entirely, send X-Modelrunner-Store-IO: 0:

curl -X POST "https://queue.modelrunner.run/{ownerName}/{modelName}" \
  -H "Authorization: Key $MODELRUNNER_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "X-Modelrunner-Store-IO: 0" \
  -d '{"prompt": "a sunset"}'

const result = await modelrunner.subscribe('owner/model-name', {
	input: { prompt: 'a sunset' },
	headers: { 'X-Modelrunner-Store-IO': '0' },
})

result = modelrunner.subscribe(
    "owner/model-name",
    arguments={"prompt": "a sunset"},
    headers={"X-Modelrunner-Store-IO": "0"},
)

This is not “never written”. We hold the output briefly while we move media onto the CDN, build thumbnails and calculate what to charge you — usage-priced models are billed from the output itself. Payloads are removed shortly after the request settles, once your result has been handed over and any webhook body has been rendered. Budget for a window of roughly 15 minutes, not zero.Your media is unaffected: files stay for as long as the expiration above allows.

Because the payload is gone afterwards, a request submitted this way is only readable once in practice — from the response to your own poll, or from a webhook delivery. Capture what you need at that point.

Deleting a request’s data

curl -X DELETE "https://queue.modelrunner.run/requests/{requestId}/payloads" \
  -H "Authorization: Key $MODELRUNNER_KEY" \
  -H "X-Idempotency-Key: $(uuidgen)"

You can also append /payloads to the response_url the submit returned. This removes the input and output JSON and deletes the media files that request generated:

{
  "request_id": "V1StGXR8_Z5jdHi6B",
  "payloads_deleted": true,
  "cdn_delete_results": [
    { "link": "https://media.modelrunner.ai/abc123.png", "exception": null }
  ]
}


Deletes	The payload JSON, and the CDN files in the request’s output
Keeps	Input files you uploaded — another request may use the same file
Keeps	The request’s timestamp, model, timings and price, so your billing history stays intact

X-Idempotency-Key is optional; repeating the same delete is safe either way.

Deletion is permanent. The files return 403 immediately afterwards and cannot be restored.

A delete returns 409 in three cases, each protecting something:

The request has not finished. Its payload does not exist yet in final form.
It has not been charged yet. Usage-priced models compute the bill from the output, so removing it first would produce a wrong charge.
It is published as an example on a model or wrapper page. Detach it first.

Reading a request whose payloads are gone

The request record survives a purge — only the payloads are emptied. input and output come back as {}, and a payloadsPurgedAt timestamp tells you why.

{
  "id": "V1StGXR8_Z5jdHi6B",
  "status": "COMPLETED",
  "input": {},
  "output": {},
  "payloadsPurgedAt": "2026-08-06T12:00:00.000Z",
  "totalPrice": "0.04"
}

Key your handling off payloadsPurgedAt, not off an empty output — {} is also what a failed generation looks like. See the billingStatus warning on the webhooks page for the same distinction.

Setting a default for your account

Rather than sending headers on every call, set a default under Settings → Account in the dashboard: payload retention, a media expiration, and whether to store payloads at all. It applies to every request on the account. A header on an individual request always wins over the account default — including "expiration_duration_seconds": null, which is how you exempt one request from an account-wide media expiration.

Getting started

Wrappers

Platform features

SDKs & recipes

Generated media

Access controls are not supported

Request payloads

Deleting a request’s data

Reading a request whose payloads are gone

Setting a default for your account

​Generated media

​Access controls are not supported

​Request payloads

​Deleting a request’s data

​Reading a request whose payloads are gone

​Setting a default for your account

Generated media

Access controls are not supported

Request payloads

Deleting a request’s data

Reading a request whose payloads are gone

Setting a default for your account