Executive Summary
Vercel has updated its deployment retention policy to automatically preserve the latest preview deployment for any branch with an open or unmerged pull request. This change prevents the deletion of active previews, even if they exceed the user-configured retention window. The update, which applies to all plans, is designed to improve the development workflow by ensuring active work is never inadvertently lost.
Key Takeaways
* The latest preview deployment for branches with open pull requests is no longer deleted by retention policies, regardless of age.
* This change allows teams to safely configure shorter retention windows for other deployments without risking the loss of active previews.
* The existing policy of preserving the 10 most recent production deployments and any aliased deployments remains unchanged.
* This update is now active and applies to all Vercel plans.
Strategic Importance
This policy refinement enhances the reliability of Vercel's core development workflow, preventing potential disruptions for teams managing numerous active branches and pull requests.