Automating data removal

What this post added

This post introduces the subsystem of Meta's Systematic Code and Asset Removal Framework (SCARF) responsible for automating the identification and safe removal of unused data types. It details how SCARF scans production data systems to identify unused tables or assets, measuring both static code references (using Glean) and runtime access patterns to determine safety. The process involves notifying engineering teams, a blocking period for reads/writes as a dry run, and eventual deletion. The post also addresses challenges in handling cross-system dependencies and code usage, and highlights SCARF's scale in removing petabytes of data and millions of data types daily.