Zero data retention (ZDR) - Browserbase Documentation

Zero Data Retention (ZDR) lets your account run Browserbase sessions without persisting session logs, session recordings, or replay artifacts to Browserbase’s managed storage. Combined with Bring Your Own Storage (BYOS), ZDR gives Enterprise customers full control over where every artifact produced by a session lives — including the option for no artifact to leave your environment at all.

ZDR is available only on Enterprise plans. Contact the Browserbase team to learn more about Zero Data Retention for your organization.

What ZDR covers

When ZDR is enabled, Browserbase does not persist the following artifacts:

Artifact	Behavior under ZDR
Session logs	CDP and console output are not written to Browserbase storage
Video recording	No `.mp4` is encoded or stored
Replay (DOM)	No RRweb replay is captured; the Replay API returns `404 Not Found`
Live View	Still available in real time — Live View streams the session, it does not store it

The browser session itself runs normally — your automation, downloads, and uploads work the same way. ZDR only changes whether Browserbase keeps a record of what happened inside the session after it ends.

Downloads, uploads, contexts, and extensions are separate artifact types. If you need those stored under your control as well, pair ZDR with BYOS so they’re written to your own S3 buckets.

How to enable ZDR

You can opt individual sessions out of logging and recording by setting logSession and recordSession to false when you create a session. This works on every plan and is useful for sensitive workflows where you don’t want Browserbase to persist logs or recordings. If you’d also like artifacts (downloads, contexts, uploads, and extensions) stored exclusively in your AWS account, pair ZDR with BYOS — the two features work together.

Node.js
Python
cURL

import Browserbase from "@browserbasehq/sdk";

const bb = new Browserbase({ apiKey: process.env.BROWSERBASE_API_KEY });

const session = await bb.sessions.create({
  projectId: process.env.BROWSERBASE_PROJECT_ID!,
  browserSettings: {
    logSession: false,
    recordSession: false,
  },
});

from browserbase import Browserbase

bb = Browserbase(api_key=os.environ["BROWSERBASE_API_KEY"])

session = bb.sessions.create(
    project_id=os.environ["BROWSERBASE_PROJECT_ID"],
    browser_settings={
        "log_session": False,
        "record_session": False,
    },
)

curl -X POST https://api.browserbase.com/v1/sessions \
  -H "X-BB-API-Key: $BROWSERBASE_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "projectId": "'"$BROWSERBASE_PROJECT_ID"'",
    "browserSettings": {
      "logSession": false,
      "recordSession": false
    }
  }'

Both flags default to true. Setting either to false is permanent for that session — you cannot re-enable logging or recording after the session has started.

What changes for your team

Live View continues to work for real-time debugging of in-flight sessions.
Session Replay and Recording endpoints return 404 Not Found for ZDR sessions — there is no recording to fetch.
Session Logs API returns no entries for ZDR sessions.
Dashboard still shows session metadata (status, start/end time, region, and duration), but the replay viewer will be empty.
Support investigations are limited under ZDR — if you open a support ticket, Browserbase will not have logs or replay to reference. Browserbase recommends keeping logs and recording enabled for non-production projects so issues can be reproduced and triaged.

Once a ZDR session ends, the logs and replay data are gone. Browserbase does not retain them, even for support. Make sure your own observability (application logs, Stagehand history and metrics, and custom telemetry) captures everything you need before disabling these features.

Pairing ZDR with BYOS

ZDR removes Browserbase-managed logs and recordings. BYOS routes the remaining session artifacts — downloads, uploads, contexts, and extensions — into S3 buckets you own. Together they give you a configuration where:

No session logs or recordings exist on Browserbase storage.
Browserbase writes all other session artifacts directly to your AWS account, under your KMS keys, with your lifecycle policies.
Browserbase retains only operational metadata (session ID, project, timing, and region) needed to run the platform and bill usage.

See the BYOS setup guide for how to provision the buckets and IAM role.

Compliance and contracts

ZDR is part of Browserbase’s Enterprise security posture — see Enterprise security for the full picture, including SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA BAA availability, and the Trust Center. If your contract or compliance program requires written confirmation that ZDR is enabled for your account, ask your Browserbase contact — Browserbase can provide attestation as part of your enterprise agreement.

FAQ

Does ZDR affect performance?

No. Disabling logs and recording slightly reduces CPU and network overhead inside the session VM, but the difference is not user-visible.

Can I enable ZDR for some projects but not others?

Yes. Set logSession: false / recordSession: false per-session for the workloads that need it. You can apply this selectively in your code based on project, environment, or workflow.

Is Live View affected by ZDR?

No. Live View streams the session in real time without storing it, so it remains fully functional. ZDR only suppresses the persisted replay/recording.

Does ZDR apply to Stagehand sessions?

Yes. Stagehand creates Browserbase sessions under the hood, so the same logSession and recordSession settings apply via browserbaseSessionCreateParams.

What about data sent to my LLM provider?

ZDR controls what Browserbase stores. Those providers govern any data you send to third-party LLMs (OpenAI, Anthropic, etc.). Use BYO-LLM to route AI calls through your own keys and provider agreements.

Questions? Contact the Browserbase team to learn more about ZDR, or request full compliance documentation through the Trust Center.

​What ZDR covers

​How to enable ZDR

​What changes for your team

​Pairing ZDR with BYOS

​Compliance and contracts

​FAQ

What ZDR covers

How to enable ZDR

What changes for your team

Pairing ZDR with BYOS

Compliance and contracts

FAQ