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POST
/
v1
/
vectors
/
delete
Delete Vectors
curl --request POST \
  --url https://api.example.com/v1/vectors/delete
Delete specific items from the index by their IDs.

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Authentication

Required - API key via X-API-Key header: 
X-API-Key: cyborg_your_api_key_here
You can get an API key from the CyborgDB Admin Dashboard. For more info, follow this guide.

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Request Body

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

​
Response

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

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Exceptions

  • 401: Authentication failed (invalid API key)
  • 404: Index not found
  • 422: Invalid request parameters
  • 500: 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.

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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"]
     }'

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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

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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

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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