Common workflows
Retention, export and erasure
How long PaalChat keeps a business's data, and how to export it or erase a person.
In a nutshell
Message content, notes and media are kept 365 days by default - set a business's own retention_days on Create or update business. Export a business's data with POST .../exports. Erase a person with DELETE .../contacts/{id}. A business that leaves PaalChat is erased by PaalTech on request.
Retention
PaalChat keeps message content, conversation notes and media files for 365 days by
default, then empties them; the message rows (status, times, pricing) stay. A business can
keep them for less - or longer - with retention.message_content_days (7 to 3,650) on
Create or update business. Webhook payloads and callbacks are
kept only days, whatever the policy (see the FAQ).
Export
Export business data builds a ZIP of JSON Lines files -
contacts.jsonl (with consent and preferences), conversations.jsonl (with notes),
messages.jsonl (with content), media.jsonl and business.json. Poll
Get export until it is ready, then download url within 15
minutes. The file is deleted after 24 hours. Needs the data.manage ability.
Erasing a person
Erase contact removes everything that identifies them - name,
number, email, your external_id, custom fields, tags, preferences, the content of their
messages, their media and the notes on their conversations. Records that must remain
(message statuses, conversations, the consent history) point at a pseudonym such as
contact_8f2a91c0. It cannot be undone. A number on the suppression list stays there, so
they are not messaged again.
Erasing a business
When a business leaves and asks for its data to be deleted, PaalTech erases it: contacts, conversations, messages, media, inbox members and its WhatsApp connection (the WhatsApp account becomes free to connect elsewhere). PaalTech's audit records keep only a pseudonym. Export first - erasure cannot be undone.