Before cancelling a cloud Mac, verify that you can recover your work somewhere else. A successful upload or a synchronized folder is not enough evidence. The useful test is opening the recovered project and retrieving the outputs you still need.
Do this while the rental remains accessible. Do not assume that files can be recovered after expiration or that the provider includes a backup service.
Sort what must survive
Make an inventory before copying anything:
A pushed repository may not contain local data or untracked work. Conversely, copying an entire folder can unnecessarily include secrets. Decide what belongs in the backup and protect sensitive materials appropriately; never put them in a public repository to simplify the transfer.
Keep the recovery copy outside the rented machine
A second folder on the same Mac will not help if you lose access to that Mac. Use storage you control independently and verify that you can access it without the rental.
Apple's backup recovery guidance describes restoring personal files with Migration Assistant from a Time Machine backup. That does not establish that your rental supports Time Machine, full-machine restoration or a particular destination. Confirm supported methods and choose a project-level backup when that matches the work you need to preserve.
If a recovery method requires extra system permissions, check the distinction between managed accounts and dedicated Macs before relying on it.
Perform a small restoration exercise
Restore into a separate test location, not over your only working copy. Open a sample project, inspect an important data file and check a final artifact. If the project needs a database, verify a usable export rather than assuming that copying live files produced a consistent backup.
Record the recovery steps and anything missing. Reinstallable dependencies can be documented instead of copied, but the required versions and sources must remain available. The test ends when the work is usable, not when the transfer progress bar reaches the end.
Cancel in the right order
First confirm the actual end date and provider cleanup policy. Complete and verify the backup, then arrange account sign-out and removal of machine-specific access you no longer need. Avoid revoking access required by other active systems without checking its scope.
Do not erase the machine before verification, and do not assume a cancellation request immediately deletes data or stops billing. Those are separate events governed by the provider's terms.
Make the exit plan part of the rental plan
The project migration guide covers moving into a remote environment; recovery proves you can leave it. Before choosing an Agent.Space Mac, check the current end-of-term conditions and establish your own backup responsibility. A rental is easier to manage when cancellation does not depend on rescuing files at the last minute.
