# Cloud Topics: Level Zero garbage collection

DevFeed: [Cloud Topics: Level Zero garbage collection](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/cloud-topics-level-zero-garbage-collection-12686.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://www.redpanda.com/blog/cloud-topics-level-zero-garbage-collection>)

Author: Oren Leiman

Published: 2026-05-19T00:00:00Z

Content type: article

Language: en

Sources: [Redpanda](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/redpanda.md>)

Topics: [Cloud](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/cloud.md>), [distributed-systems](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/distributed-systems.md>), [Raft](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/raft.md>), [systems](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/systems.md>)

Tags: [architecture](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/architecture.md>), [atomic](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/atomic.md>), [cloud](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/cloud.md>), [distributed-systems](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/distributed-systems.md>), [engineering](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/engineering.md>), [garbage-collection](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/garbage-collection.md>), [raft](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/raft.md>), [storage](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/storage.md>), [systems](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/systems.md>)

## AI overview

This article explains how Redpanda Cloud Topics safely garbage-collects temporary Level Zero (L0) objects after their data has been reorganized into Level One (L1) objects. It describes an epoch-based design and per-partition state for determining when L0 objects can be removed without data loss or unnecessary storage use.

## Source excerpt

How Redpanda Cloud Topics tracks the lifecycle of temporary L0 objects and determines when they're safe to delete, without risking data loss or runaway storage costs. Read more.