diff --git a/tests/integration/test_workflow.py b/tests/integration/test_workflow.py
index fa9d6258..8118208d 100644
--- a/tests/integration/test_workflow.py
+++ b/tests/integration/test_workflow.py
@@ -227,9 +227,6 @@ def test_data_ingest():
     assert item_api['properties']['phenomenonTime'] == '2021-07-06T14:55:00Z/2021-07-07T14:55:00Z'  # noqa
 
 
-    assert r.status_code == codes.ok
-
-
 def test_data_api():
     """Test data API collection queries"""
 
diff --git a/wis2box-management/wis2box/api/backend/elastic.py b/wis2box-management/wis2box/api/backend/elastic.py
index 48e51c4c..b02e77e4 100644
--- a/wis2box-management/wis2box/api/backend/elastic.py
+++ b/wis2box-management/wis2box/api/backend/elastic.py
@@ -406,30 +406,42 @@ def delete_collections_by_retention(self, days: int) -> bool:
         indices = self.conn.indices.get(index='*').keys()
 
         before = datetime_days_ago(days)
+        # also delete future data
+        after = datetime_days_ago(-1)
 
-        query_by_date = {
+        msg_query_by_date = {
             'query': {
                 'bool': {
-                    'should': [{
-                        'range': {
-                            'properties.resultTime': {
-                                'lte': before
-                            }
-                        }
-                    }, {
-                        'range': {
-                            'properties.pubTime': {
-                                'lte': before
-                            }
-                        }
-                    }]
+                    'should': [
+                        {'range': {'properties.pubTime': {'lte': before}}},
+                        {'range': {'properties.pubTime': {'gte': after}}}
+                    ]
+                }
+            }
+        }
+        obs_query_by_date = {
+            'query': {
+                'bool': {
+                    'should': [
+                        {'range': {'properties.reportTime': {'lte': before}}},
+                        {'range': {'properties.reportTime': {'gte': after}}}
+                    ]
                 }
             }
         }
 
         for index in indices:
-            LOGGER.debug(f'deleting documents older than {days} days ({before})')  # noqa
-            self.conn.delete_by_query(index=index, **query_by_date)
+            if index == 'messages':
+                query_by_date = msg_query_by_date
+            elif index.startswith('urn-wmo-md'):
+                query_by_date = obs_query_by_date
+            else:
+                # don't run delete-query on other indexes
+                LOGGER.info(f'items for index={index} will not be deleted')
+                continue
+            LOGGER.info(f'deleting documents from index={index} older than {days} days ({before}) or newer than {after}')  # noqa
+            result = self.conn.delete_by_query(index=index, **query_by_date)
+            LOGGER.info(f'deleted {result["deleted"]} documents from index={index}')  # noqa
 
         return
 
diff --git a/wis2box-management/wis2box/metadata/discovery.py b/wis2box-management/wis2box/metadata/discovery.py
index a7e25787..589bbf0f 100644
--- a/wis2box-management/wis2box/metadata/discovery.py
+++ b/wis2box-management/wis2box/metadata/discovery.py
@@ -63,8 +63,6 @@ def generate(self, mcf: dict) -> str:
 
         md = deepcopy(mcf)
 
-        identifier = md['metadata']['identifier']
-
         local_topic = mcf['wis2box']['topic_hierarchy'].replace('.', '/')
         mqtt_topic = f'origin/a/wis2/{local_topic}'
 
@@ -77,7 +75,7 @@ def generate(self, mcf: dict) -> str:
         if md['identification']['extents']['temporal'][0].get('begin', 'BEGIN_DATE') is None:  # noqa
             today = date.today().strftime('%Y-%m-%d')
             md['identification']['extents']['temporal'][0]['begin'] = today
-        
+
         LOGGER.debug('Adding data policy')
         md['identification']['wmo_data_policy'] = mqtt_topic.split('/')[5]
 
@@ -125,7 +123,7 @@ def get_distribution_links(self,
         """
 
         LOGGER.info('Adding distribution links')
-        
+
         identifier = record['id']
         topic = record['properties']['wmo:topicHierarchy']