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Agent Skills Catalog

GCP Project Decommissioning & Cleanup Checklist

keywords plugin keywords, from plugin.json
  • gcp
  • google-cloud
  • firebase
  • audit
  • billing
  • bigquery-billing-export
  • quota-governance
  • cost-optimization
  • cloud-management
plugin derived
GCP Managementgcp-management
conformance derived from plugin.json $schema
Targets Agent Plugins 1.0.0.
source derived
plugins/gcp-management/skills/gcp-project-consolidation/references/decommissioning-checklist.md

A plugin-level reference of gcp-management. This location is not defined by Agent Plugins §6.1; the title below is this file's own H1, extracted, not composed.

This checklist guides the safe, permanent shutdown of retired or duplicate Google Cloud projects without unintended data loss or blocker errors.

1. Pre-Decommissioning Discovery

Before shutting down a project, verify the following:

  • No Active HTTP Traffic: Confirm 30-day request log query returns zero incoming requests:
    Terminal window
    gcloud logging read 'timestamp >= "YYYY-MM-DDT00:00:00Z" AND httpRequest.requestMethod:*' --project=<PROJECT_ID> --limit=5
  • Storage Backup: Verify Cloud Storage buckets do not contain critical archives:
    Terminal window
    gcloud storage ls --project=<PROJECT_ID>
  • Firestore / Datastore Backup: Export database if records must be retained:
    Terminal window
    gcloud firestore export gs://<BACKUP_BUCKET>/backups/<PROJECT_ID> --project=<PROJECT_ID>

2. Check & Remove Project Liens

Projects linked to certain Google services (e.g., Dialogflow CX/ES agents, Firebase associations) may have liens placed on them that prevent deletion.

Check for Active Liens:

Terminal window
gcloud alpha resource-manager liens list --project=<PROJECT_ID>

If a Lien Exists:

Example error:
A lien to prevent deletion was placed on the project by [You cannot delete this project because it is linked with a Dialogflow agent...].
  1. Delete the Dialogflow agent or linked service via the web console.
  2. Or delete the lien directly if safe:
    Terminal window
    gcloud alpha resource-manager liens delete <LIEN_NAME> --project=<PROJECT_ID>

If you want to keep the project configuration without incurring any costs:

Terminal window
gcloud beta billing projects unlink <PROJECT_ID>

Note: Unlinked projects immediately stop paid compute, but retain IAM, APIs, and resource definitions.

Option B: Permanent Deletion

To completely remove the project and clean up console dropdowns:

Terminal window
gcloud projects delete <PROJECT_ID> --quiet

(Note: GCP provides a 30-day recovery window during which a project can be undeleted via gcloud projects undelete <PROJECT_ID> before permanent erasure).