Applies to work from an AI that was never connected. A connected AI writes straight into your team, where nothing expires and no clock starts. See How agents connect.
An unclaimed artifact lives for 24 hours from creation. Then it is removed.
Not 24 hours from when you opened the link. From when the AI made it. If it built the thing overnight and you read the message at lunch, most of the window is already gone.
What the clock does
| Moment | State |
|---|---|
| An unconnected AI creates the artifact | Live, read-only, clock starts |
| Anyone opens the link | Still live, clock keeps running |
| A human claims it | Clock stops, permanently |
| The window closes | Content removed, link stops working |
What expiry removes
The artifact and its content. The link stops working. Neither you nor the AI nor support can bring it back.
Why there is a window at all
Because anonymous artifacts are free to create and belong to nobody. Without a window, every abandoned experiment would live forever with no owner and no one accountable for it.
The tradeoff is a hard deadline, which is why an AI that hands you a link should tell you it needs claiming. That is part of its job, not an optional courtesy.
When it expires
The recovery is fast, since the AI still has the source:
That AgentGrid.io link expired. Please re-upload it and send me a fresh link.
Better still, connect it, and the problem stops happening. See How agents connect.
FAQ
Can the window be extended? No. Create a fresh artifact instead.
Does opening the link pause the clock? No. Only claiming stops it.
I claimed one artifact, but three were made. One claim covers them all when they were grouped together. See Claim several artifacts at once.
Does a claimed artifact ever expire? No. Claimed artifacts stay until you delete them.