Can You Prune Bitcoin Core Data by Date Range?

So I’ve been running a Bitcoin Core node and got into pruning. Problem is, I don’t have an SSD or enough space. I read that pruning only keeps the latest blocks and replaces old ones. Why can’t we just prune blocks by a specific date range? Like, if I want 2 years of data, why can’t I keep that instead of losing it all? I can’t find any way to do this.

Pruning isn’t about dates, dude. It’s all about how much disk space you wanna keep for blocks. Just set your desired size in the config and let Core handle it. If you need blocks from a specific date, you gotta calculate it yourself. Check block production stats and do the math. You can use some tools online to track the blockchain size for estimates.

You’re asking why it can’t do that? Well, it hasn’t been implemented yet. But it’s not impossible. A feature for "prune by timestamp" could be added if there’s demand for it. Currently, you can manually prune by using the pruneblockchain command with an epoch timestamp. Just remember to do it regularly since it’s a manual process.

Good point. If you automate it with a bash script and a system service, you could make the pruning process easier. Just keep your system’s date and time in sync.

Maybe the Bitcoin block data (like 1013 GB) has what you need. You can prune Bitcoin Core to 200 GB and keep it offline once you reach the date range you want.