Delete Document File

Requests the deletion of a document file and returns the deletion job. Every revision built on the file stops returning chunks through List Chunks.

To remove a whole document, use Delete Document. Avoid deleting the file of a document’s active revision. The document is left failed with no active revision and drops out of List Documents and Dify’s document list. It still counts toward the document quota.

Send the JSON body with this DELETE. If your client omits bodies on DELETE requests, configure it to send the body explicitly.

For the deletion flow, see Delete Documents and Sources.

1 min read

delete/knowledge-fs/spaces/{knowledge_base_id}/documents/{document_file_id}

Request example

curl --request DELETE \
  --url https://api.dify.ai/v1/knowledge-fs/spaces/{knowledge_base_id}/documents/{document_file_id} \
  --header 'Authorization: Bearer <token>' \
  --header 'Idempotency-Key: <string>' \
  --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --data '{
  "expectedRevision": 1
}'

import requests

url = "https://api.dify.ai/v1/knowledge-fs/spaces/{knowledge_base_id}/documents/{document_file_id}"
headers = {
    "Authorization": "Bearer <token>",
    "Idempotency-Key": "<string>",
    "Content-Type": "application/json",
}
payload = {
    "expectedRevision": 1
}

response = requests.request("DELETE", url, headers=headers, json=payload)

print(response.text)

const response = await fetch('https://api.dify.ai/v1/knowledge-fs/spaces/{knowledge_base_id}/documents/{document_file_id}', {
  method: 'DELETE',
  headers: {
    'Authorization': 'Bearer <token>',
    'Idempotency-Key': '<string>',
    'Content-Type': 'application/json'
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    "expectedRevision": 1
  })
});

const data = await response.json();
console.log(data);

<?php

$curl = curl_init();

curl_setopt_array($curl, [
  CURLOPT_URL => 'https://api.dify.ai/v1/knowledge-fs/spaces/{knowledge_base_id}/documents/{document_file_id}',
  CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
  CURLOPT_CUSTOMREQUEST => 'DELETE',
  CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS => '{
  "expectedRevision": 1
}',
  CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER => [
    'Authorization: Bearer <token>',
    'Idempotency-Key: <string>',
    'Content-Type: application/json',
  ],
]);

$response = curl_exec($curl);
curl_close($curl);

echo $response;

package main

import (
	"fmt"
	"io"
	"net/http"
	"strings"
)

func main() {
	url := "https://api.dify.ai/v1/knowledge-fs/spaces/{knowledge_base_id}/documents/{document_file_id}"
	payload := strings.NewReader("{\n  \"expectedRevision\": 1\n}")

	req, _ := http.NewRequest("DELETE", url, payload)
	req.Header.Add("Authorization", "Bearer <token>")
	req.Header.Add("Idempotency-Key", "<string>")
	req.Header.Add("Content-Type", "application/json")

	res, _ := http.DefaultClient.Do(req)
	defer res.Body.Close()
	body, _ := io.ReadAll(res.Body)

	fmt.Println(string(body))
}

HttpRequest request = HttpRequest.newBuilder()
    .uri(URI.create("https://api.dify.ai/v1/knowledge-fs/spaces/{knowledge_base_id}/documents/{document_file_id}"))
    .header("Authorization", "Bearer <token>")
    .header("Idempotency-Key", "<string>")
    .header("Content-Type", "application/json")
    .method("DELETE", HttpRequest.BodyPublishers.ofString("{\n  \"expectedRevision\": 1\n}"))
    .build();

HttpResponse<String> response = HttpClient.newHttpClient()
    .send(request, HttpResponse.BodyHandlers.ofString());

System.out.println(response.body());

require 'uri'
require 'net/http'

url = URI('https://api.dify.ai/v1/knowledge-fs/spaces/{knowledge_base_id}/documents/{document_file_id}')

http = Net::HTTP.new(url.host, url.port)
http.use_ssl = url.scheme == 'https'

request = Net::HTTP::Delete.new(url)
request['Authorization'] = 'Bearer <token>'
request['Idempotency-Key'] = '<string>'
request['Content-Type'] = 'application/json'
request.body = '{
  "expectedRevision": 1
}'

response = http.request(request)
puts response.read_body

Response

{
  "document_title": null,
  "job": {
    "checkpoint": "requested",
    "completed_at": null,
    "created_at": "2026-09-06T02:25:00Z",
    "error": null,
    "id": "b7e1c2d3-4f5a-4b6c-8d9e-0f1a2b3c4d5e",
    "knowledge_space_id": "9b2e5b7a-3c1d-4e2f-8a9b-1c2d3e4f5a6b",
    "mode": "cascade",
    "progress": null,
    "retry_at": null,
    "run_state": "dispatch_pending",
    "target_id": "6ec0bd7f-11c0-43da-975e-2a8ad9ebae0b",
    "target_type": "document",
    "updated_at": "2026-09-06T02:25:00Z"
  },
  "status_url": "https://api.example.com/v1/knowledge-fs/spaces/8d2c6a1e-5b3f-4c7d-9e01-2a3b4c5d6e7f/deletion-jobs/b7e1c2d3-4f5a-4b6c-8d9e-0f1a2b3c4d5e"
}

{
  "code": "knowledge_fs_invalid_request",
  "message": "Agent Knowledge Base request is invalid.",
  "status": 400,
  "violations": [
    {
      "field": [
        "expectedRevision"
      ],
      "type": "missing"
    }
  ]
}

{
  "code": "knowledge_fs_invalid_request",
  "message": "Agent Knowledge Base request is invalid.",
  "status": 400
}

{
  "code": "knowledge_fs_invalid_request",
  "failure": {
    "category": "validation",
    "code": "KNOWLEDGE_FS_INVALID_REQUEST",
    "message": "The Agent Knowledge Base request is invalid.",
    "retryPolicy": "never",
    "traceId": "7f3c1a90-2e64-4b7d-8a51-6c0d9e2f4b83"
  },
  "message": "The Agent Knowledge Base request is invalid.",
  "status": 400
}

{
  "code": "knowledge_fs_invalid_credential",
  "message": "Invalid Agent Knowledge Base service credential.",
  "status": 401
}

{
  "code": "unauthorized",
  "message": "Access token is invalid",
  "status": 401
}

{
  "code": "forbidden",
  "message": "Sorry, you have reached the knowledge base request rate limit of your subscription.",
  "status": 403
}

{
  "code": "knowledge_fs_access_denied",
  "message": "Agent Knowledge Base operation is not allowed.",
  "status": 403
}

{
  "code": "knowledge_fs_access_denied",
  "failure": {
    "action": "contact_admin",
    "category": "authorization",
    "code": "KNOWLEDGE_FS_ACCESS_DENIED",
    "message": "You do not have permission to perform this Agent Knowledge Base operation.",
    "retryPolicy": "never",
    "traceId": "7f3c1a90-2e64-4b7d-8a51-6c0d9e2f4b83"
  },
  "message": "You do not have permission to perform this Agent Knowledge Base operation.",
  "status": 403
}

{
  "code": "knowledge_fs_resource_not_found",
  "failure": {
    "category": "not_found",
    "code": "KNOWLEDGE_FS_NOT_FOUND",
    "message": "The requested Agent Knowledge Base resource was not found.",
    "retryPolicy": "never",
    "traceId": "7f3c1a90-2e64-4b7d-8a51-6c0d9e2f4b83"
  },
  "message": "The requested Agent Knowledge Base resource was not found.",
  "status": 404
}

{
  "code": "not_found",
  "message": "The requested URL was not found on the server. If you entered the URL manually please check your spelling and try again.",
  "status": 404
}

{
  "code": "knowledge_fs_conflict",
  "failure": {
    "category": "conflict",
    "code": "DURABLE_DELETION_IDEMPOTENCY_CONFLICT",
    "message": "The Agent Knowledge Base operation conflicts with the current resource state.",
    "retryPolicy": "never",
    "traceId": "5e2a9c17-3b4d-4f60-8a1b-2c3d4e5f6a7b"
  },
  "message": "The Agent Knowledge Base operation conflicts with the current resource state.",
  "status": 409
}

{
  "code": "knowledge_fs_conflict",
  "failure": {
    "action": "retry",
    "category": "conflict",
    "code": "KNOWLEDGE_FS_CONFLICT",
    "message": "The Agent Knowledge Base operation conflicts with the current resource state.",
    "retryPolicy": "manual",
    "traceId": "7f3c1a90-2e64-4b7d-8a51-6c0d9e2f4b83"
  },
  "message": "The Agent Knowledge Base operation conflicts with the current resource state.",
  "status": 409
}

{
  "code": "knowledge_fs_upstream_unavailable",
  "failure": {
    "action": "contact_admin",
    "category": "internal",
    "code": "KNOWLEDGE_FS_INTERNAL_ERROR",
    "message": "Agent Knowledge Base could not complete the operation. Try again, or contact an administrator with the error reference.",
    "retryPolicy": "manual",
    "traceId": "5e2a9c17-3b4d-4f60-8a1b-2c3d4e5f6a7b"
  },
  "message": "Agent Knowledge Base could not complete the operation. Try again, or contact an administrator with the error reference.",
  "status": 502
}

{
  "code": "knowledge_fs_upstream_unavailable",
  "message": "Agent Knowledge Base is unavailable.",
  "status": 502
}

{
  "code": "knowledge_fs_operation_unavailable",
  "message": "Agent Knowledge Base operation is not available.",
  "status": 503
}

{
  "code": "knowledge_fs_operation_unavailable",
  "failure": {
    "action": "retry",
    "category": "dependency",
    "code": "KNOWLEDGE_FS_UNAVAILABLE",
    "message": "A service required by Agent Knowledge Base is temporarily unavailable.",
    "retryPolicy": "manual",
    "traceId": "5e2a9c17-3b4d-4f60-8a1b-2c3d4e5f6a7b"
  },
  "message": "A service required by Agent Knowledge Base is temporarily unavailable.",
  "status": 503
}

delete/knowledge-fs/spaces/{knowledge_base_id}/documents/{document_file_id}

Authorization

Authorizationstringheaderrequired#

Every request authenticates with an API key: Authorization: Bearer {API_KEY}. App endpoints take an app API key; knowledge endpoints take a knowledge base API key (Get Started).

Keep keys server-side; never embed them in client code. Requests with a missing or invalid key fail with HTTP 401 (unauthorized).

Path parameters

knowledge_base_idstringrequired#

Knowledge base ID: the last segment of the Service API endpoint shown in the knowledge base's API Access dialog (…/knowledge-fs/spaces/<knowledge base ID>), and the segment after /datasets/new/ in the address bar.

document_file_idstringrequired#

Document file ID. From List Document Files.

Headers

Idempotency-Keystringrequired#

Repeating the same key and request with the same API key returns the original job with 202. Reusing the key for a different request, or from another API key, answers 409. Use printable ASCII characters without leading or trailing whitespace.

Length: 8–255

Body

application/json

expectedRevisionintegerrequired#

The document file's current version, from List Document Files or Get Document File. A document file's version is always 1. Not the revision number from List Document Revisions. A stale value answers 409 and nothing is deleted.

Range: >= 1

Responses

application/json

The deletion request was accepted and runs in the background. Get Document File answers 404 from the moment it is accepted. To confirm that it finished, poll Get Deletion Job (the status_url) until run_state is completed or failed.

document_titlestring#

The document's title, for a Delete Document request. It's null when you resend the request with the same Idempotency-Key, and always null for document file deletions.

jobobject#

Show child attributes

checkpointstring#

How far the deletion has progressed: requested (newly accepted), then quiescing, deleting_objects, deleting_derived_data, deleting_primary_data, and completed.

completed_atstring#

When the job completed, ISO 8601. null until then, and on a failed job.

created_atstring#

When the job was accepted, ISO 8601.

errorobject#

The last error, or null when there is none. It is also set while run_state is retry_wait, so read run_state, not error, to tell whether the job failed.

Show child attributes

codestring#

Code of the last error.

messagestring#

Public message for the last error. Internal error details are omitted.

retryableboolean#

true when run_state is failed. This API can't retry a failed deletion.

idstring#

Deletion job ID.

knowledge_space_idstring#

Internal ID of the knowledge base. Not the knowledge base ID in the path.

modestring#

How a source deletion treats the source's documents: cascade deletes them, keep keeps them. Ignore it on a deletion of a document file or a document.

progressobject#

Item counts of a multi-item deletion. Not populated by this API. Always null.

Show child attributes

completed_itemsinteger#

Items deleted so far.

current_item_kindstring#

Kind of the item being deleted.

total_itemsinteger#

Items to delete.

retry_atstring#

When the next automatic retry runs, ISO 8601. null when none is scheduled.

run_statestring#

Scheduler state:

dispatch_pending (newly accepted), queued, running: in progress.
retry_wait: an automatic retry is scheduled at retry_at.
completed: everything was removed.
failed: cleanup stopped, and the target stays hidden. It can't be retried.

target_idstring#

ID of the target: the document file ID for document, the document ID for logical_document, the source ID for source.

target_typestring#

What the job deletes: document for a document file, logical_document for a whole document, source for a source.

updated_atstring#

When the job last changed, ISO 8601.

status_urlstring#

URL of Get Deletion Job for this job: absolute when the deployment sets SERVICE_API_URL, otherwise a path that starts with /v1/. The same value is sent in the Location response header.

Get Document File Get Document Outline