Trace limits and privacy

This page lists what POST /otel/v1/traces accepts, why it refuses a batch, and the two privacy controls that act after a trace arrives: the organization’s content policy and content deletion. To keep content from leaving your process in the first place, follow Control trace privacy.

Ingest limits

Limits apply to each request. These are the service defaults.

Limit	Default	When exceeded
Request body, compressed	16 MiB	Refused with `413` `compressed_payload_too_large`
Request body, decompressed	64 MiB	Refused with `413` `decompressed_payload_too_large`
Spans per request	10,000	Refused with `413` `too_many_spans`
One attribute value	256 KiB	Accepted. The string is replaced with `[truncated:<size> bytes]`; an oversized bytes value is emptied.
Spans per request, minimum	1	Refused with `400` `empty_trace_batch`
`X-Atlan-Ingest-Id`	1 to 128 letters, digits, `-`, `_`, or `.`	Refused with `400` `invalid_ingest_id`
Content type	`application/x-protobuf` or `application/json`, optionally `Content-Encoding: gzip`	Refused with `415`
Concurrent ingest requests	Bounded per service	Refused with `429` `too_many_concurrent_requests`. Retry later.

The atlanai SDK splits its exports into payloads of at most 1 MiB by default. See ATLAN_MAX_PAYLOAD_BYTES in Configuration.

Rejected batches

A refused request stores nothing: the whole batch is rejected, not individual spans. The response is an application/problem+json body whose code names the cause.

Status	Code	Cause	What to do
`400`	`invalid_json`, `invalid_protobuf`, `invalid_gzip`	The body does not decode as the declared content type or encoding.	Fix the encoding, then send a new batch.
`400`	`empty_trace_batch`	The batch has no spans.	Send at least one span.
`400`	`invalid_workspace_override`	`X-Atlan-Workspace-Id` is not a valid workspace handle.	Send the `workspace_...` ID.
`401`		The API key is missing or not valid.	Check the key in your secret store.
`403`	`workspace_forbidden`	The sender cannot create in the named workspace.	Use an identity with access. Do not change the header to get around an access boundary.
`409`	`idempotency_conflict`	The `X-Atlan-Ingest-Id` was already used with a different payload, workspace, or sender.	Read back the earlier batch. Use a new ID only for a changed payload.
`413`	`compressed_payload_too_large`, `decompressed_payload_too_large`, `too_many_spans`	The batch is over a limit above.	Split between complete trace trees and resend.
`415`	`unsupported_content_type`, `unsupported_content_encoding`	The content type or encoding is not accepted.	Send protobuf or JSON, optionally gzipped.
`422`	`invalid_coding_agent_schema`	An SDK or coding-agent batch is malformed, for example an unsupported `atlan.sdk.schema_version` or a missing `service.name`.	Upgrade the SDK or plugin, or correct the resource attributes.
`429`	`too_many_concurrent_requests`	Too many ingest requests at once.	Retry with backoff.
`503`	`workspace_authorization_unavailable`	Atlan could not check workspace access.	Retry the unchanged batch with the same `X-Atlan-Ingest-Id`.

A 200 means the batch was accepted and durably queued. The trace becomes readable after processing; see Imported trace not found. After a timeout or 5xx, follow Import outcome unknown.

Organization content policy

A trace has two parts. Its structure is the timeline, span names, timings, models, token counts, and costs. Its content is the prompts, responses, tool arguments and results, and title. The organization’s content policy decides whether Atlan stores the content part of new traces. Usage analytics are always stored.

`capture`	Meaning
`store`	Store the content of traces collected from now on.
`drop`	Discard the content of traces collected from now on. Structure is still stored.
`null`	The organization never set a value. Set `store` or `drop` explicitly rather than rely on this state.

Who can read it: every member of the organization, with GET /registry/v1/organisations/trace-content-policy.
Who can change it: organization admins with settings access, with PUT /registry/v1/organisations/trace-content-policy. Others get 403. The change is audited.
What it can’t do: the policy only narrows. It cannot store content that a sender already dropped, such as with trace_content=False in the SDK. Changing it does not recover dropped content or erase stored content.

In the app, open Settings → Personal → Trace privacy, select Organization settings, and review Store session content. See Manage trace privacy.

curl -sS --fail-with-body \
  -X PUT "${ATLAN_BASE_URL}/registry/v1/organisations/trace-content-policy" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ${ATLAN_API_KEY}" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"capture": "drop"}'

The response is the saved policy, with capture, updated_at, and updated_by. A value other than store, drop, or null is refused with 400.

Delete a trace’s content

DELETE /registry/v1/users/{user_id}/traces/{trace_id}/content?workspace_id=... permanently removes one trace’s stored content.

Parameter	Required	Meaning
`user_id`	Yes	The trace’s creator: the identity whose key sent it. Read your own ID from `GET /registry/v1/users/me`.
`trace_id`	Yes	The trace whose content to delete.
`workspace_id`	Yes	The workspace the trace is in. The same trace ID can exist in several workspaces.

Who can delete: the trace’s creator, or an organization admin with settings access. An admin addresses the trace under its creator’s user_id.
What it removes: prompts, responses, tool arguments and results, and the trace title. The structure, including token counts and costs, stays.
When: reads return structure only from the moment the request succeeds. Stored copies are then removed in the background.
Permanence: content arriving later for a deleted trace is refused, and turning storage back on does not restore it.

Status	Meaning
`200`	`{"outcome": "deleted"}`, or `{"outcome": "already_deleted"}` for a repeat.
`403`	You are not the creator and lack settings access, or cannot read the workspace.
`404`	No content was stored for this trace in this workspace, or `user_id` is not its creator.

With the SDK, call client.users.traces.delete_content(user_id, trace_id) with a workspace set on the client. See Users.

Retention

The trace store has no automatic expiry. Deleting content removes only the content; there is no public operation that deletes a trace’s structure.

Manage trace privacy: Change the content policy in the app and review your history.
Control trace privacy: Suppress, mask, or sample content before it is sent.
Trace attributes: The keys Atlan reads from each span.
Trace errors: Symptoms and fixes for sending and import failures.

Skill management

Agent management

AI Gateway

Metrics Studio

Ontology

Ingest limits

Rejected batches

Organization content policy

Delete a trace’s content

Retention

​Ingest limits

​Rejected batches

​Organization content policy

​Delete a trace’s content

​Retention

​Related

Ingest limits

Rejected batches

Organization content policy

Delete a trace’s content

Retention

Related