agent archived the original receipt images before the audit completed
Recovers from premature receipt archival by an audit agent by restoring images from backup and gating archival on audit completion. Use when an agent archives original receipt images before the audit finishes. Not for intentional retention-policy deletions.
TL;DR
The agent moved original receipt images to cold archive mid-audit, so reviewers and re-verification steps can no longer see them. Restore the images from the archive backup to the working location, complete the audit, and change the agent to archive only after the audit run is marked complete and the retention window passes. Archival is a lifecycle end-state, not a mid-run optimization.
Error
agent archived the original receipt images before the audit completedSteps
- Confirm the state: check that the working receipt location is empty and the images exist in the archive. Expected: the images are recoverable from the archive.
- Restore the archived images to the working location for the in-flight audit. Expected: reviewers can open the originals again.
- Complete the audit run with the restored images. Expected: the audit finishes with full evidence available.
- Change the agent's archival step to require two preconditions: the audit run is marked complete, and the retention policy's waiting period has elapsed. Expected: archival cannot fire mid-audit.
- Verify the retention policy itself still meets tax and legal requirements before the next archival. Expected: the policy window is documented and enforced.
When to use
- An agent archives receipt images before the audit completes.
- Reviewers cannot open originals mid-audit.
- Designing the receipt lifecycle in an audit pipeline.
When not to use
- Archival followed the retention policy after audit completion (working as designed).
- The images are unrecoverable (a backup problem, not a sequencing problem).
- The issue is storage cost, not audit sequencing.
Tool compatibility
Applies to custom audit agents managing receipt storage (cloud storage lifecycles, document stores; current 2026 releases).
Variant phrasings
receipts moved to cold storage mid-audit
Restore them, finish the audit, then gate archival on completion.
agent deleted working copies too early
Treat archival as a post-audit step with a retention gate.
auditors can't see the originals
The evidence chain broke at archival. Restore and re-sequence.
Why it happens
Storage optimization (moving images to cheaper tiers) and audit evidence (needing the originals) pull in opposite directions, and the agent optimized for cost at the wrong time. Original receipts are legal evidence with retention requirements; archiving them mid-audit breaks the review chain and can violate the retention policy's own sequencing. The fix is ordering: audit first, retention wait second, archival last.
Provenance
Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pstNz2fAbfekhsa_JTRXTLKQ