Limits and how long things are kept
You get the numbers in one place: what Research Mate refuses, and for how long it keeps what you delete.
How many times you can do something
Each limit counts your own actions, not your organisation's. The counting window is a fixed slot of the clock, not a rolling one: when the slot ends, the count starts again, so the wait can be shorter than the whole window.
| Action | Limit | What it says when you reach it |
|---|---|---|
| Add a document | 60 an hour | "Too many uploads. Try again in a few minutes." |
| Add a picture to a prototype board | 120 an hour | "Too many uploads. Try again in a few minutes." |
| Make a project | 20 in 10 minutes | "Too many new projects. Try again in a few minutes." |
| Make an organisation | 5 in a day (to midnight UTC) | "Too many new organizations today. Try again tomorrow." |
| Invite someone | 30 in 10 minutes | "Too many invites. Try again in a few minutes." |
| Save or restore a board version | 60 in 10 minutes | "Too many versions saved. Try again in a few minutes." |
| Make a share link | 30 in 10 minutes | "Too many share links made. Try again in a few minutes." |
| Make a usability test | 30 in 10 minutes | "Too many tests made. Try again in a few minutes." |
| Publish a usability test | 30 in 10 minutes | "Too many tests published. Try again in a few minutes." |
| Ask the AI for quotes, themes, insights or a draft | 8 a minute | "Too many AI requests. Try again in a minute." |
| Send the AI a chat message | 8 a minute | "Too many chat messages. Try again in a minute." |
| Export a deck as a PDF | 60 in 10 minutes | "Too many deck exports. Try again in a few minutes." |
| Save your profile | 30 in 10 minutes | "Too many profile changes. Try again in a few minutes." |
Your organisation also has a daily AI allowance, which resets at midnight UTC. When the AI service is busy it answers "The AI is busy. Try again in a minute." It tries once more before saying so. See Let the AI suggest quotes, themes and insights.
A draft made from the Ask AI panel counts against the same AI limit. A chat message counts against the chat limit and the organisation's daily allowance, not against the draft limit: see Ask the AI about your research. Adding or regenerating a screen from the chat counts against the draft limit like a draft; other changes from the chat make no further AI call.
Signing in, signing up and changing your password are limited by the sign-in service, not by these numbers, and its messages come as it words them.
How big things can be
- A document: .txt, .md, .pdf or .docx. A file up to 25 MB ("Too large to upload (max 25 MB).") and pasted text up to 4 MB ("Too large to upload (max 4 MB).").
- A picture on a prototype board: a PNG, JPEG or WebP up to 10 MB ("That image is over 10 MB.").
- An image attached to an AI chat message: up to 2 MB after it is shrunk to 1,600 px ("That image is too large to attach, even after shrinking."). Up to 4 images and 3 files a message.
- A screen deck's PDF export: the screen image, up to 3 MB ("The image is too large (max 3 MB).").
- Shapes at once: paste, duplicate or Alt + drag up to 500 shapes. Over that, it says "That is too many shapes at once (the limit is 500)."
- A shared presentation: about 1.5 MB of board data. Over that, it says "This presentation is too large to share as a link."
- A usability test: up to 10 tasks, with a time limit of 10 to 1,800 seconds each, and up to 50 tests on a board that are not deleted ("A board can hold at most 50 tests."). A test takes 1 to 200 participants, 30 unless you change it. Past that a new participant sees "This test is closed".
- A participant's session: up to 2,000 recorded events, sent at most 100 at a time and 64 KB a call, within 4 hours of starting. A test takes at most 20 new sessions in 10 minutes; after that a new participant sees "This test is closed" until the window passes.
- Names: an organisation name up to 100 characters, a full name 80, a nickname 32.
- Passwords: the sign-up and change-password forms ask for 8 characters or more.
- Undo: the last 50 steps on a prototype board, kept in this tab.
- Zoom: 2% to 200%, on every kind of board.
How long things are kept
| What | Kept | Then |
|---|---|---|
| A deleted board, document, highlight, theme or insight | 30 days in its Deleted folder | Removed for good, overnight |
| A chat conversation with the AI | Until you delete it. Only you can see it | A deleted one is removed for good after 30 days, overnight. Undo in the message brings it back before then |
| Automatic history of a board | 30 days, at most one every 10 minutes | Removed, unless you name it |
| A version you saved or named | Until you delete it | |
| "Before restoring" copies | Until the board is removed | |
| An image attached to an AI chat message | 30 days | Removed, overnight. The message shows "Image no longer available" |
| A usability test and its sessions | Until you delete the test | Deleted tests and deleted sessions stay 30 days, restorable, then are removed for good, overnight |
| An invite | 14 days, and one use | Expires |
| A share link | Works for the 7, 30 or 90 days you chose, or until revoked | Stops working; revoking ends it at once, for good. Its frozen copy is kept until the board is removed for good |
A row leaves the Deleted folder as soon as its 30 days are up, even before the overnight clean-up runs. A deleted board keeps its versions while it is in Deleted; they go when the board is removed for good.
See Delete and restore a board, Save, name and restore versions, Share a presentation with a link and Add people to your organisation.