# How to Automate Artifact Cleanup in Harness Artifact Registry Without Breaking Production

DevFeed: [How to Automate Artifact Cleanup in Harness Artifact Registry Without Breaking Production](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/automate-artifact-cleanup-in-harness-registry-13416.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://www.harness.io/blog/how-to-automate-artifact-cleanup-in-harness-artifact-registry-without-breaking-production>)

Author: Shibam Dhar

Published: 2026-08-04T00:00:00Z

Content type: tutorial

Language: en

Sources: [Harness Blog](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/harness-blog.md>)

Topics: [container images](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/container-images.md>), [Docker](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/docker.md>), [Maven](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/maven.md>), [npm](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/npm.md>), [Helm charts](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/helm-charts.md>), [Python](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/python.md>), [CI/CD](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/cicd.md>), [sdlc](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/sdlc.md>), [Microservice](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/microservice.md>)

Tags: [ci-cd](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/ci-cd.md>), [cleanup](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/cleanup.md>), [container-images](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/container-images.md>), [cost](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/cost.md>), [deployment](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/deployment.md>), [docker](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/docker.md>), [helm](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/helm.md>), [npm](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/npm.md>), [python](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/python.md>), [sdlc](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/sdlc.md>)

## AI overview

This hands-on walkthrough explains how Harness Artifact Registry lifecycle rules can automate cleanup across Docker, npm, Maven, Python, and Helm repositories while reducing the risk of deleting artifacts still used in production. It describes dry-run previews, governance tiers, recovery, and the limits of age-, count-, and tag-based rules.

## Source excerpt

A hands-on walkthrough of Lifecycle Rules across Docker, npm, Maven, Python, and Helm. Includes dry-run preview, three-tier governance, and one-click recovery. | Blog