Retention cut chart
What a retention window keeps and frees.
Definition · Updated Nov 2, 2026
A retention cut chart shows stored data by age with a cut line at the retention window, so you see what would be kept, what would be freed and which items fall on each side. Use it for logs, traces and backups.
Pay once. Every update included.
Live preview
Sample data: stored traces by age, a 60-day cut keeps 222 GB and frees 90 GB, against today's 90 days
- Data shape
- Size by age, a retention window
- Good for
- Logs, traces, backups
- Avoid when
- There is no retention rule
- Sizes
- XS, S, M and L, re-laid out from the data
Anatomy
Inspect it like the Figma file.
The same layers, names and tokens as the component. Select one to read its size, fill and style.
Layers
130 / Retention cut
- Layer
- freed
- Type
- Vector
- Size
- 180 × 131
- Fill
- status/warning
- Group
- Marks · 12
Layers
130 / Retention cut
- Layer
- freed
- Type
- Vector
- Size
- 100 × 75
- Fill
- status/warning
- Group
- Marks · 12
Layers
130 / Retention cut
- Layer
- freed
- Type
- Vector
- Size
- 59 × 44
- Fill
- status/warning
- Group
- Marks · 12
Sizes
Re-laid out, never scaled.
The same data at XS, S, M and L. Every size is redrawn from the data, so text and line weights never shrink.
M against S
Width360 px480 px
Plot328 px440 px
Labels1314
Marks1212
Height212 px246 px
Same tokens at every size: text styles, 1 px lines and mark radius stay put.
When to use
What the cut would free.
Three signs it fits, and three signs another type fits better.
Code and Figma
One name in Figma and in code.
Every Figma property is a prop with the same name and values. One command installs it.
Figma
chart/130-retention-cut
npx shadcn add @chartory/retention-cutimport { RetentionCut } from "@/components/chartory/retention-cut"import { traceStorage } from "./trace-storage"export function TraceStorage() { return ( <RetentionCut data={traceStorage} size="m" legend={true} /> )}Hearth widget
Retention cut as a widget.
The chart in a Hearth card with a hero number and two blocks. One token set, light and dark.
EmberPreset
ChartoryDefault preset
Pick the blocks, the size and the preset for your own widget.
Read the Hearth widget docsFAQ
Retention cut questions.
What people ask before they put a retention cut in a dashboard.
Something else?
hello@usechartory.comThings worth checking before the cut, each pinned at its age (vector reindex · 47 d), so nobody loses data they still need.
Kept, freed and gone already, named in the legend.
One data object in the sample’s shape: size by age, a retention window. The docs page lists every field and links its JSON Schema; the sample data comes with the component, so you can start from it and swap in your own.
Series take the preset’s data colours in order, and states such as up, down or warning take its status colours. Change the preset in Figma or in code to recolour every chart at once.
XS, S, M and L, in light and dark. Each size is laid out again from the data, so text and lines keep their size.
Yes. It plays in when it scrolls into view, and when the data changes every mark moves from its old place to its new one. With reduced motion on, it does not move.
Yes. The Figma component comes with Figma and Complete, the React component with Code and Complete.
Ask for it by name. The MCP server tells the agent what data it needs and runs the same command: npx shadcn add @chartory/retention-cut. You review the diff.
Related types
Other ways to show distribution.
The same question, a different shape of answer. Every type ships in Figma and in code.
Same family
Distribution
17 types in Chartory answer this question.