Response Storage and Persistence — Responses API: Primary Endpoint

Control the lifespan of your data

The Responses API includes built-in storage: with store: true, xAI servers keep your responses for 30 days. You can retrieve, view, and delete them at any time using dedicated endpoints.

store: true vs store: false

Stored mode (store: true)

{
  "model": "grok-4.20-0309-reasoning",
  "input": "Write a summary of this project.",
  "store": true
}

The response persists for 30 days. You can:

Reference it with previous_response_id to continue the conversation
Retrieve it later with GET /v1/responses/{id}
Delete it with DELETE /v1/responses/{id}

Private mode (store: false)

{
  "model": "grok-4.20-0309-reasoning",
  "input": "Analyze this confidential data.",
  "store": false
}

The response isn’t kept after the request. You still receive the result in the HTTP response, but it becomes inaccessible afterward. Chaining via previous_response_id isn’t possible.

Use store: false for sensitive data or when you don’t need to continue the conversation.

Retrieve a stored response

curl https://api.x.ai/v1/responses/resp-abc123 \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $XAI_API_KEY"

The API returns the complete response object, identical to the one received during creation. This is useful for:

Auditing past interactions
Reconstructing a conversation history
Verifying costs after the fact

In Python

# Retrieve a stored response
stored = client.responses.retrieve("resp-abc123")
print(stored.output[0].content[0].text)
print(f"Cost: {stored.usage.cost_in_nano_usd / 1e9:.6f} USD")

Delete a response

curl -X DELETE https://api.x.ai/v1/responses/resp-abc123 \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $XAI_API_KEY"

Deletion is permanent. If other chained responses reference this response via previous_response_id, the corresponding context will no longer be available.

In Python

client.responses.delete("resp-abc123")

Storage use cases

Chatbot with history

Enable store: true for all requests. The user can resume their conversation even after closing the browser, as long as you keep the last response_id.

Sensitive data analysis

Use store: false for requests containing personal or confidential data. The response is processed in memory and not persisted.

Audit and compliance

Retrieve stored responses to build audit logs. Delete them when they’re no longer needed to comply with retention policies.

Retention period

Stored responses are automatically deleted after 30 days. You can’t extend this period via the API. If you need a longer history, save the responses in your own database.

Key takeaways

store: true persists the response for 30 days — store: false keeps nothing
GET /v1/responses/{id} retrieves a stored response
DELETE /v1/responses/{id} permanently deletes a response
Chaining via previous_response_id requires the response to be stored
Responses are automatically purged after 30 days
Use store: false for sensitive data