> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.cognee.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Delete

> Delete data by its ID from the specified dataset.

Args:
    data_id: The UUID of the data to delete
    dataset_id: The UUID of the dataset containing the data
    mode: "soft" (default) or "hard" - hard mode also deletes degree-one entity nodes
    user: Authenticated user
    delete_dataset_if_empty: If True, deletes the dataset if it is left empty after data deletion

Returns:
    JSON response indicating success or failure



## OpenAPI

````yaml /cognee_openapi_spec.json delete /api/v1/delete
openapi: 3.1.0
info:
  title: Cognee API
  description: Cognee API with Bearer token and Cookie auth
  version: 1.0.0
servers:
  - url: https://api.cognee.ai
    description: Production server (full functionality)
  - url: http://localhost:8000
    description: Local development server (requires local setup)
security:
  - BearerAuth: []
  - ApiKeyAuth: []
tags:
  - name: activity
    description: ''
  - name: add
    description: Data ingestion endpoints for adding text, files, and structured data.
  - name: auth
    description: >-
      Authentication endpoints for user registration, login, and token
      management.
  - name: checks
    description: ''
  - name: cognify
    description: >-
      Knowledge processing endpoints to transform raw data into knowledge
      graphs.
  - name: configuration
    description: ''
  - name: datasets
    description: Dataset management endpoints for listing, creating, and deleting datasets.
  - name: delete
    description: Data deletion endpoints (deprecated — use datasets endpoints instead).
  - name: forget
    description: ''
  - name: health
    description: ''
  - name: improve
    description: ''
  - name: llm
    description: ''
  - name: memify
    description: ''
  - name: notebooks
    description: ''
  - name: ontologies
    description: ''
  - name: permissions
    description: Permission management for multi-user access control.
  - name: recall
    description: ''
  - name: remember
    description: ''
  - name: responses
    description: Response generation endpoints using the knowledge graph.
  - name: search
    description: Search endpoints for querying the knowledge graph.
  - name: sessions
    description: ''
  - name: settings
    description: Configuration endpoints for managing Cognee settings.
  - name: sync
    description: ''
  - name: update
    description: ''
  - name: users
    description: User management endpoints.
  - name: visualize
    description: Graph visualization endpoints.
paths:
  /api/v1/delete:
    delete:
      tags:
        - delete
      summary: Delete
      description: |-
        Delete data by its ID from the specified dataset.

        Args:
            data_id: The UUID of the data to delete
            dataset_id: The UUID of the dataset containing the data
            mode: "soft" (default) or "hard" - hard mode also deletes degree-one entity nodes
            user: Authenticated user
            delete_dataset_if_empty: If True, deletes the dataset if it is left empty after data deletion

        Returns:
            JSON response indicating success or failure
      operationId: delete_api_v1_delete_delete
      parameters:
        - name: data_id
          in: query
          required: true
          schema:
            type: string
            format: uuid
            title: Data Id
        - name: dataset_id
          in: query
          required: true
          schema:
            type: string
            format: uuid
            title: Dataset Id
        - name: mode
          in: query
          required: false
          schema:
            type: string
            default: soft
            title: Mode
        - name: delete_dataset_if_empty
          in: query
          required: false
          schema:
            type: boolean
            default: false
            title: Delete Dataset If Empty
      responses:
        '200':
          description: Successful Response
          content:
            application/json:
              schema: {}
        '422':
          description: Validation Error
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/HTTPValidationError'
      deprecated: true
      security:
        - BearerAuth: []
        - ApiKeyAuth: []
components:
  schemas:
    HTTPValidationError:
      properties:
        detail:
          items:
            $ref: '#/components/schemas/ValidationError'
          type: array
          title: Detail
      type: object
      title: HTTPValidationError
    ValidationError:
      properties:
        loc:
          items:
            anyOf:
              - type: string
              - type: integer
          type: array
          title: Location
        msg:
          type: string
          title: Message
        type:
          type: string
          title: Error Type
        input:
          title: Input
        ctx:
          type: object
          title: Context
      type: object
      required:
        - loc
        - msg
        - type
      title: ValidationError
  securitySchemes:
    BearerAuth:
      type: http
      scheme: bearer
      bearerFormat: JWT
    ApiKeyAuth:
      type: apiKey
      in: header
      name: X-Api-Key

````