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HTTP DELETE Verb

By Updated

DELETE asks the server to remove the resource identified by the URL.

For example:

DELETE /todos/1

Means "delete todo 1."

Deleting a specific item is common. Deleting an entire collection is possible only if the API explicitly supports it, and it is usually protected carefully because it is a high impact action.

A successful DELETE often returns 204 No Content because the resource has been removed and there is nothing else to return. Some APIs return 200 OK with a response body describing what was deleted.

DELETE is considered idempotent because, after the first successful delete, the resource is gone. Sending the same delete again leaves it gone. The second response might be 404 Not Found, but the final state is still that the resource does not exist.

HTTP DELETE Send Example

curl -X DELETE https://apichallenges.com/lists/{guid} ^
-H "Authorization: Basic YWRtaW46cGFzc3dvcmQ=" ^
--proxy 127.0.0.1:8888

HTTP DELETE Request Example

DELETE https://apichallenges.com/lists/{guid} HTTP/1.1
User-Agent: curl/7.39.0
Host: localhost:4567
Accept: */*
Connection: Keep-Alive
Authorization: Basic YWRtaW46cGFzc3dvcmQ=

HTTP DELETE Response Example

HTTP/1.1 204 No Content
Date: Thu, 17 Aug 2017 12:20:35 GMT
Content-Type: application/json
Server: Jetty(9.4.4.v20170414)

Common HTTP Status codes in response to a DELETE

  • 200 - resource was deleted and a response body was returned
  • 202 - delete request was accepted for later processing
  • 204 - resource was deleted and no response body was returned
  • 404 - target resource was not found
  • 401 - authentication is required, see WWW-Authenticate header
  • 403 - url probably exists but you are not allowed to access it
  • 405 - method not allowed for this endpoint
  • 500 - server error while processing the request

 

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