> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://buttercms.com/docs/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Delete Collection Item > Soft-delete an existing Collection item via the Write API. The item is marked as deleted but data is preserved. 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. ## OpenAPI ````yaml /api/openapi/write_api.yaml delete /content/{collection_key}/{item_id}/ openapi: 3.1.0 info: title: ButterCMS Write API version: 2.0.0 description: > Write endpoints for the ButterCMS API — create, update, and delete Pages, Collections, and Blog Posts. contact: email: support@buttercms.com license: name: ButterCMS Terms of Service url: https://buttercms.com/terms/ servers: - url: https://api.buttercms.com/v2 description: ButterCMS API v2 security: - writeTokenAuth: [] tags: - name: Pages description: > Create new pages using ButterCMS Write API. Programmatically create content to enable powerful use cases and scale your content faster. Note: For Pages, PUT behaves like PATCH (partial update). Use either method to perform partial updates. - name: Collections description: > Create, update, and delete Collection items using ButterCMS Write API. Collections are user-defined content structures with completely customizable field schemas. - name: Blog posts description: > Create, update, and delete blog posts using ButterCMS Write API. Blog posts support rich content including HTML body, categories, tags, featured images, and SEO metadata. paths: /content/{collection_key}/{item_id}/: delete: tags: - Collections summary: Delete Collection Item description: > 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. operationId: deleteCollectionItem parameters: - name: collection_key in: path required: true schema: type: string maxLength: 100 description: > The unique identifier/slug of the Collection containing the item to delete. Must match an existing collection in your organization. example: team_members - name: item_id in: path required: true schema: type: string maxLength: 50 description: > 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. example: '123' responses: '204': $ref: '#/components/responses/NoContentResponse' '401': $ref: f90388ba-d70a-4363-80c0-94f0c4076bc0 '403': description: Forbidden - Insufficient permissions content: application/json: schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorResponse' examples: write_permission: summary: Token lacks write permissions value: detail: Token does not have write permissions '404': description: Not Found - Collection or item not found content: application/json: schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorResponse' examples: collection_not_found: summary: Collection not found value: detail: Collection not found item_not_found: summary: Collection item not found value: detail: Collection item not found security: - writeTokenAuth: [] components: responses: NoContentResponse: description: Operation completed successfully - No content returned schemas: ErrorResponse: type: object properties: detail: type: string description: Error message describing what went wrong example: Authentication credentials were not provided securitySchemes: writeTokenAuth: type: apiKey in: header name: Authorization description: > 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. ````