Delete Vectors

Delete specific items from the index by their IDs.

Authentication

Required - API key via X-API-Key header:

X-API-Key: cyborg_your_api_key_here

Any valid credential is accepted — the root key or a per-user cdbk_ token. When RBAC is not enabled (CYBORGDB_SERVICE_ROOT_KEY unset), no header is required.

Request Body

{
  "index_name": "my_index",
  "index_key": "64_character_hex_string_representing_32_bytes",
  "ids": ["item_1", "item_2", "item_3"]
}

Show parameters

string

required

Name of the target index

string

32-byte encryption key as a hex string. Required for indexes created with the SDK-supplied KEK path; omit for KMS-backed indexes (the service resolves the key from the index’s stored key envelope).

array[string]

required

List of item IDs to delete

Response

{
  "status": "success",
  "message": "Deleted 3 vectors"
}

Show response fields

string

Status of the operation (always “success” on successful deletion)

string

Confirmation message with count of deleted vectors (format: “Deleted N vectors”)

Exceptions

401 Unauthorized

Authentication failed (invalid API key) or wrong index_key on SDK-supplied indexes — see error model

404 Not Found

Index not found

422 Unprocessable Entity

Invalid request parameters

500 Internal Server Error

Internal server error

If some IDs don’t exist in the index, they will be silently ignored and the operation will continue with the existing IDs.

Example Usage

Delete Single Item:

curl -X POST "http://localhost:8000/v1/vectors/delete" \
     -H "X-API-Key: cyborg_your_api_key_here" \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     -d '{
       "index_name": "my_index",
       "index_key": "your_64_character_hex_key_here",
       "ids": ["item_1"]
     }'

Delete Multiple Items:

curl -X POST "http://localhost:8000/v1/vectors/delete" \
     -H "X-API-Key: cyborg_your_api_key_here" \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     -d '{
       "index_name": "my_index",
       "index_key": "your_64_character_hex_key_here",
       "ids": ["item_1", "item_2", "item_3", "item_4", "item_5"]
     }'

Batch Delete:

curl -X POST "http://localhost:8000/v1/vectors/delete" \
     -H "X-API-Key: cyborg_your_api_key_here" \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     -d '{
       "index_name": "cleanup_index",
       "index_key": "your_64_character_hex_key_here",
       "ids": [
         "old_1", "old_2", "old_3", "old_4", "old_5",
         "temp_1", "temp_2", "temp_3", "temp_4", "temp_5",
         "test_1", "test_2", "test_3", "test_4", "test_5"
       ]
     }'

Safe Delete Pattern

# First, verify items exist
curl -X POST "http://localhost:8000/v1/vectors/get" \
     -H "X-API-Key: cyborg_your_api_key_here" \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     -d '{
       "index_name": "my_index",
       "index_key": "your_64_character_hex_key_here",
       "ids": ["item_to_delete"],
       "include": ["metadata"]
     }'

# Then delete if confirmed
curl -X POST "http://localhost:8000/v1/vectors/delete" \
     -H "X-API-Key: cyborg_your_api_key_here" \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     -d '{
       "index_name": "my_index",
       "index_key": "your_64_character_hex_key_here",
       "ids": ["item_to_delete"]
     }'

Data Removal

When vectors are deleted, the following data is permanently removed:

Vector embeddings: The stored vector representation
Item contents: Any associated text or binary content
Metadata: All key-value metadata pairs for the item
Index references: Internal index pointers to the deleted items

Performance Considerations

Batch operations: Delete multiple items in single requests for better performance
Index impact: Large deletions may affect index efficiency; consider retraining after significant deletions
Memory: Deleted items may not immediately free memory until index optimization occurs

Use Cases

Data cleanup: Remove outdated or invalid items
Content moderation: Delete inappropriate or flagged content
User management: Remove user-associated data upon account deletion
Testing cleanup: Clean up test data after development
Data governance: Remove data that exceeds retention policies

Introduction

Client

Encrypted Index

Types & Getters

Users (RBAC)

Authentication

Request Body

Response

Exceptions

Example Usage

Safe Delete Pattern

Data Removal

Performance Considerations

Use Cases

​Authentication

​Request Body

​Response

​Exceptions

​Example Usage

​Safe Delete Pattern

​Data Removal

​Performance Considerations

​Use Cases

Authentication

Request Body

Response

Exceptions

Example Usage

Safe Delete Pattern

Data Removal

Performance Considerations

Use Cases