AgrarianGameArchive/Docs/Ops/BuildLogRetentionPolicy.md

Agrarian Build Log Retention Policy

This policy covers generated build, package, cook, editor, crash, shader, and automation logs for the Agrarian Unreal project.

Goals

• Keep enough recent logs to debug build and packaging failures.
• Preserve important release/investor-demo logs long enough to explain what was shipped.
• Prevent Saved/, Builds/, and generated automation output from growing without limit on the shared project drive.
• Keep generated logs out of Git.

Log Locations

• Saved/BuildLogs/: Windows editor builds, packaged target builds, and packaging logs.
• Saved/Logs/: Unreal editor, cook, runtime, UnrealPak, World Partition, and commandlet logs.
• Saved/Crashes/: editor/runtime crash context, logs, and dumps.
• Saved/MaterialStats/: generated material stat CSV files.
• Saved/Shaders/ and Saved/ShaderDebugInfo/: generated shader diagnostics.
• Builds/: packaged local build outputs. These are not retained as source artifacts unless explicitly published or sent externally.

Default Retention

• Build/package logs in Saved/BuildLogs/: keep 90 days.
• Unreal logs in Saved/Logs/: keep 30 days.
• Crash reports in Saved/Crashes/: keep 90 days.
• Material stats in Saved/MaterialStats/: keep 30 days.
• Shader debug output in Saved/Shaders/ and Saved/ShaderDebugInfo/: keep 14 days.
• Local packaged builds in Builds/: keep the latest published investor/demo package and any active test build; prune older regenerated builds manually.

Preserve Before Pruning

Before deleting logs, preserve any file that is tied to:

• an investor/demo package;
• a release candidate;
• a crash or build failure still being investigated;
• a bug report sent to another person;
• a store upload or external test distribution.

Preserved logs should be copied to a dated folder under a local operational archive or attached to the related issue/release note before cleanup.

Cleanup Script

Use:

Scripts/prune_build_logs.sh --dry-run
Scripts/prune_build_logs.sh --apply

The script is dry-run by default. It only removes generated files under known Saved/ log/debug paths and empty directories left behind. It does not touch source, Content/, Config/, Source/, Docs/, or Git history.

Cadence

• Run dry-run before major packaging cycles if the shared drive is getting full.
• Run apply monthly during active development.
• Always run dry-run first when preparing an investor or external test build.

Git Policy

Generated logs are not committed. Commit only:

• build scripts;
• packaging scripts;
• retention policy docs;
• release notes;
• summaries of important failures or fixes.