keeelist

Keeelist is a term used in information technology to describe a curated set of items that must be retained or preserved by a system during operations such as backups, migrations, or cleanups. It is not a formal standard, but a practical concept used in various domains to prevent accidental deletion or loss of important resources.

In software maintenance, a keeelist refers to a collection of keys, IDs, or resource identifiers that should not be removed. Examples include configuration keys, API keys, user accounts with special privileges, cryptographic keys, or essential database records. The list can be implemented as a file, a database table, or a runtime data structure, and is consulted by cleanup or deployment tooling to determine what to preserve.

In data management and compliance contexts, a keeelist may indicate records or documents that must be retained for data retention policies, legal holds, or audit trails. Items not on the keeelist may be subject to purge according to policy, helping balance data hygiene with regulatory requirements.

In security and cryptography, a keeelist can specify keys that must remain active through rotation cycles, ensuring dependent services always have access to a valid key. It often works together with rotate-and-retire mechanisms to maintain continuity while improving security.

Best practices for keeelists include version control, separation from application code, and maintenance of clear provenance. Tools should validate the integrity of the keeelist, ensure synchronization across services, and provide auditable logs of keep-or-delete decisions. See also do-not-delete lists, retention policies, backup strategies, and key management.