Delete Collection

response = client.databases.delete_collection(
    database="my_first_database",
    collection="engineering",
)

const response = await client.databases.deleteCollection({
  database: "my_first_database",
  collection: "engineering",
});

curl -X DELETE 'https://api.hydradb.com/databases/collections?database=my_first_database&collection=engineering' \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <your_api_key>" \
  -H "API-Version: 2"

​

Query parameters

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "database": "my_first_database",
    "collection": "engineering",
    "status": "deletion_scheduled",
    "message": "Collection deregistered. Background cleanup is in progress."
  },
  "error": null,
  "meta": {
    "request_id": "9d13aef4-02f4-4e73-8c62-4c2601d04f9d",
    "latency_ms": 12.3
  }
}

{
  "success": false,
  "data": null,
  "error": {
    "code": "DATABASE_NOT_FOUND",
    "message": "Database not found"
  },
  "meta": {
    "request_id": "9d13aef4-02f4-4e73-8c62-4c2601d04f9d",
    "latency_ms": 4.8
  }
}

​

While cleanup is running

• Every ingest, query, and read addressed to it returns 404, so nothing can write into a collection that is being purged. Sibling collections in the same database, and the database itself, are unaffected and keep serving normally.
• Ingestion already in flight for this collection is cancelled before any store is purged, so a job that started before the delete cannot repopulate it afterwards.
• The collection disappears from List Collections once its records are dropped, which happens before the slower vector, graph, and object-store cleanup completes.

• Ingest the new context. While cleanup is running, the API returns 404. Retry later.
• Writes succeed only after cleanup finishes in every store. A successful write also creates the collection, so use it to ingest context rather than to check deletion status.

​

Behavior notes

• Repeat calls are the retry path: Deleting the same collection again is idempotent. A duplicate call while cleanup is still running joins the delete in progress rather than starting a second one. If a cleanup fails part-way, the collection stays fenced and re-issuing the same DELETE re-runs it.
• In-flight ingestion cancelled by deletion is reported as failed.
• Dashboard: Owners can also expand a database on the Databases page and delete a collection from the inline list.

​

Errors

​

Related resources

• Before this: List Collections: find the collection ID
• Alternative: Delete Context: remove specific knowledge or memories without deleting the collection
• Larger scope: Delete Database: remove the entire database
• Read more: Concepts: Multi tenancy

{
  "collection": "team_docs",
  "database": "acme_corp",
  "message": "Success",
  "status": "completed",
  "sub_tenant_id": "sub_tenant_4567",
  "tenant_id": "tenant_1234"
}

{
  "collection": "team_docs",
  "database": "acme_corp",
  "latency_ms": 12.3,
  "request_id": "9d13aef4-02f4-4e73-8c62-4c2601d04f9d",
  "source_type": "file",
  "sub_tenant_id": "sub_tenant_4567",
  "tenant_id": "tenant_1234",
  "warnings": [
    {
      "code": "acl_ignored_by_connector_enforcement",
      "message": "This connector enforces ACL, so the request's acl was ignored."
    }
  ]
}