---
title: Limits and timings
description: How often things are checked, how big things can be, and how long things last.
---

<span class="vy-eyebrow">Reference</span>

# Limits and timings

## How often things happen

| What | When |
|---|---|
| A rule's document is checked for changes | About every **10 minutes** |
| Google Drive memory sync | About every **30 minutes**, slowing while nothing changes |
| Notion memory sync | About every **15 minutes**, same |
| Website, GitHub, Gmail | On demand |
| An uploaded rule's update | Immediately, when you upload the file again |
| An access change | Takes effect on the next question or context request |
| A retirement | Immediately |

A source that has gone quiet is checked less often, and returns to its normal
cadence as soon as something changes. You can always sync by hand from the
Sources page.

## Sizes

| What | Limit |
|---|---|
| A document uploaded during setup | 20 MB |
| Website crawl | 30 pages by default, 100 maximum |
| Drive folder listing when picking a file | 1,000 items, and it tells you when a listing was cut short — search by name instead |
| Context handed to an AI tool | About 12,000 tokens by default; a tool can ask for more or narrow the categories |
| Passages returned by a memory search | 8 by default, 50 at most |
| Sources behind an Ask answer | 5 by default, 20 at most |
| Earlier turns Ask reads to understand a follow-up | The last 6 messages — three questions and their answers |
| Clients Ask names | Up to 60 active and 60 dormant by name; the count is always exact. An AI tool receives the full list |

## Durations

| What | How long |
|---|---|
| An invitation | **7 days**, then it needs sending again |
| A key | Until you revoke it |
| A rule's history | Kept indefinitely — nothing is deleted when a rule changes or retires |
| Memory | Kept until you remove it or delete the workspace |
| An Ask conversation | Kept until you delete it or the workspace is deleted |

## Counts

| What | Limit |
|---|---|
| People in a workspace | One on Free and Solo; everyone on Team. See [Plans and credits](/using-vythos/plans-and-credits) |
| Rules | No limit |
| Clients | One live on Free (the rest are paused, not deleted); no limit on Solo and Team |
| Categories | Fixed at seven. See [Categories](/concepts/categories) |
| Keys per person | No limit, though one per tool is the sensible habit |
| Ask questions a month | 30 on Free, 300 on Solo, 1,500 shared on Team — one credit each. AI tools use none |

## Things worth knowing

- **One document makes one rule.** Filing the same document under a second
  category moves it rather than duplicating it.
- **A rule with no readable document keeps working.** It stops following, and
  says so.
- **Two rules stating the same value at the same scope** are a disagreement
  Vythos won't resolve. Neither value is handed to a tool as authoritative;
  retire one.