Archive only the final delivered version — drafts go…

When This Fires

• When deciding what to archive after delivering an output
• When your archive contains "Report-final.docx," "Report-final-v2.docx," and "Report-FINAL-FINAL.docx"
• When someone pulls the wrong version from the archive because multiple versions coexist
• Complements Two-minute archiving ritual after every delivery (archiving workflow) and Name archived files as [YYYY-MM] [Type]… (naming convention) with the version-selection policy

Common Failure Mode

The draft hoard: archiving every draft, revision, and iteration alongside the final version. The archive for one report contains: outline, first draft, second draft, "final draft," "revised final," and "delivered version." Future retrieval is a guessing game among 6 files, and the "final" one may not be the one that was actually delivered.

The Protocol

(1) When archiving an output, archive only the version that was actually delivered to the recipient. (2) Delete or don't archive working drafts, intermediate revisions, and pre-delivery versions. They've served their purpose and are now clutter. (3) If legal, regulatory, or contractual obligations require draft preservation → create a subfolder within the archive entry: [Output]/drafts/. Store drafts there. (4) Label the subfolder contents clearly: "Draft 1 — pre-review," "Draft 2 — post-review." The main folder level should contain only the canonical final version. (5) When in doubt about whether to keep a draft: if deleting it would violate a legal obligation, keep it in the drafts subfolder. If the only reason to keep it is "I might want to reference it" — you won't. Delete it.