Artifacts deleted server-side with no user action, no retention setting, and no notice (personal plan)

Summary

Two private Claude Code artifacts were deleted server-side with no user action, no visible retention setting, no notice, and no recovery path. One of them held months of live launch-planning state (it used self-save / persistent checkboxes), which is permanently lost.

Affected artifacts

| Artifact | Title | Last updated | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 22be6779-98cb-41b7-af4e-75e81122f3a0 | Neon Ante — Launch Command Center | 2026-07-05 01:57 UTC | 404 "artifact not found" |
| c41e61d9-eca8-4f7f-a2f1-18d5909809a0 | Roguelike Mode — Audit Checklist | 2026-07-05 18:35 UTC | 404 "artifact not found" |

Evidence / timeline

• 2026-07-25 17:36 UTC — an Artifact list tool result (preserved in a local session transcript) shows both artifacts existing with the last-updated timestamps above.
• 2026-07-16 16:57 UTC — browser history shows the first artifact fully rendered (the *.frame.claudeusercontent.com frame URL with version stamp _f/1783216627-f0e1 was recorded).
• 2026-08-28 ~16:02 UTC — both artifacts return "artifact not found — it may have been deleted, or it has not been shared with you" via both the Artifact tool and the browser ("Page not found – Claude").
• Every other artifact on the account, all last updated 2026-07-25 or later, still resolves. The clean split by last-update date suggests time-based expiry.

Why this looks like a server-side bug (or an undocumented policy)

• The Claude Code Artifact tool has no delete action; no local session touched these artifacts after Jul 25 (verified across all transcripts on the machine).
• The user did not delete them from the gallery.
• The documented artifact retention setting (docs: "Settings > Data & privacy controls") is an admin page for Team/Enterprise orgs. This is a personal plan — the user has confirmed no such retention setting exists in their settings UI.
• If personal-plan artifacts have a default server-side retention window, it is not surfaced anywhere the user can see, gives no warning before deletion, and silently destroys self-save state.

Ask

1. Can these two artifacts be restored server-side? (They kept versioned self-saves.)
2. What deleted them — bug, or undocumented retention default?
3. If retention exists for personal plans: surface it in settings, document it on the artifacts docs page, and warn before deletion.

Environment

• Claude Code CLI on Windows 11 (win32), personal claude.ai plan
• Both artifacts were published from CLI sessions in early July 2026