Schedules a durable cascade delete — all faces and selfies are removed asynchronously. (DELETE /v1/collections/{id})

DELETE/v1/collections/{id}

Schedules a durable cascade delete — all faces and selfies are removed asynchronously. Returns 202 with a workflow id. Free.

Two modes:

Soft (default, no flag) — the collection is tagged deletion_pending and stops accepting index/search operations immediately, but nothing is erased until the grace window elapses. Undo with POST /v1/collections/{id}/restore any time before the purge starts. This is the safe default: an accidental mass-delete from your own automation is recoverable.
Immediate (?immediate=true) — skips the grace window and starts erasing now. NOT restorable.

?compliance=true is an alias for immediate=true that additionally records the erasure as compliance-class for your own audit trail.

Poll GET /v1/collections/{id}/deletion for authoritative progress.

curl -X DELETE "https://api.sightradar.com/v1/collections/$ID" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SR_API_KEY"

Name	In	Type	Description
`id` required	path	`string`	Collection id.
`immediate`	query	`boolean`	Skip the grace window and begin erasing now. Not restorable.
`compliance`	query	`boolean`	Alias for `immediate=true`, additionally recorded as a compliance-class erasure.

Field	Type	Description
`status`	`"deletion_pending" \| "deleting"`	`deletion_pending` for a soft delete (still restorable); `deleting` once erasure has been scheduled.
`mode`	`"soft" \| "immediate"`
`workflow_id`	`string`
`restorable`	`boolean`	True for a soft delete (undo via `POST /v1/collections/{id}/restore`); false for an immediate delete.
`purge_after`	`string`	When the grace window elapses and erasure begins. Soft deletes only.
`message`	`string`

Status	Meaning
`202`	Deletion scheduled.
`401`	Missing or invalid API key.
`404`	Resource not found.
`409`	Collection is already deleting or deleted.

Last updated Sep 25, 2026

Delete a collection (soft by default, restorable)