Skip to main content
DELETE
/
content
/
{collection_key}
/
{item_id}
Delete Collection Item
curl --request DELETE \
  --url https://api.buttercms.com/v2/content/{collection_key}/{item_id}/ \
  --header 'Authorization: <api-key>'
Delete an existing Collection item using a soft delete operation, which marks the item as deleted while preserving the data for potential recovery. This approach ensures data safety while removing items from public API responses. Soft Delete Behavior: The item is marked as deleted in the system and will no longer appear in collection listings, search results, or standard API responses. However, the actual data is preserved in the database, allowing for potential recovery through support channels if needed.
Important: The URL must include a trailing slash after the item ID (e.g., /v2/content/my-collection/123/). This is required for the endpoint to function correctly.
Item Identification: The unique item ID can be found in the meta field of any collection item when retrieved through GET requests. This identifier is required to specify which item to delete. Request Body: DELETE requests should not include any request body data - send an empty body or omit the body entirely. The item ID in the URL path is sufficient to identify the target item. Asynchronous Processing: This endpoint returns 204 No Content immediately upon successful request validation. The actual deletion processing, including webhook notifications and reference cleanup, happens in the background processing queue.

Authorizations

​
Authorization
string
header
required

Write-enabled API token required for creating content.

The API token you use for reading from the ButterCMS API will not allow you to create content in the API. For this you will need to use a different write-enabled token. Chat or email support@buttercms.com to get yours.

Set the Authorization header to Token your_write_api_token.

Example: Authorization: Token abc123def456

Your write-enabled token should never be used anywhere it would be exposed, e.g. in client-side JavaScript.

Path Parameters

​
collection_key
string
required

The unique identifier/slug of the Collection containing the item to delete.

Must match an existing collection in your organization.

Maximum string length: 100
​
item_id
string
required

The unique identifier of the collection item to delete.

Important: The URL must end with a trailing slash after this parameter.

This ID can be found in the meta field of collection items returned by GET operations.

Maximum string length: 50

Response

Operation completed successfully - No content returned