> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.qontext.ai/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Delete a folder > Refuses a folder that still has contents unless `recursive=true` is sent, in which case the whole subtree goes. The refusal changes nothing, so a caller that did not mean to delete the contents can read them first and decide. ## OpenAPI ````yaml api-reference/public-api.json DELETE /v1/folders/{id} openapi: 3.0.0 info: title: Qontext API description: Read and write the knowledge a workspace has ingested. version: 1.0.0 contact: {} servers: - url: https://api.qontext.ai description: Production security: [] tags: - name: Files description: >- Read and write the files in a workspace. What you read, and what an accepted change goes into, is the live files: the accepted state of the world. A change to a protected file goes to review instead of being accepted automatically, and stays in review until somebody accepts or rejects it. - name: Folders description: >- The tree the files sit in. A folder id survives a rename and a move, and so does every id below it, so ids a client holds stay valid while paths change. - name: Search description: >- Find files by meaning or by a regular expression. Both search the live files, both answer one page of the best matches, and both drop a file this key may not read. paths: /v1/folders/{id}: delete: tags: - Folders summary: Delete a folder description: >- Refuses a folder that still has contents unless `recursive=true` is sent, in which case the whole subtree goes. The refusal changes nothing, so a caller that did not mean to delete the contents can read them first and decide. operationId: FoldersController_deleteFolder parameters: - name: id required: true in: path description: The folder id, as an earlier response reported it. Always `dir_…`. schema: example: dir_9f2k1x8b3m7q0v type: string - name: recursive required: false in: query description: >- Delete the folder together with everything below it. Left off, a folder that still has contents is refused as `folder_not_empty` and nothing is removed. schema: default: false example: true type: boolean responses: '204': description: Deleted. No body. '400': description: '`invalid_request`: malformed delete parameter' content: application/problem+json: schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/Problem' examples: invalid_request: summary: Invalid request value: type: https://docs.qontext.ai/errors/invalid-request title: Invalid request status: 400 code: invalid_request detail: The request could not be accepted as sent. requestId: 3f9c2b7e4d1a48c0b6e5f2a19d7c3e8b errors: - code: out_of_range pointer: /limit detail: limit must not be greater than 1000 '401': description: '`unauthenticated`: missing or invalid API key' content: application/problem+json: schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/Problem' examples: unauthenticated: summary: Unauthenticated value: type: https://docs.qontext.ai/errors/unauthenticated title: Unauthenticated status: 401 code: unauthenticated detail: The API key is missing or not valid. requestId: 3f9c2b7e4d1a48c0b6e5f2a19d7c3e8b '403': description: '`forbidden`: this key may not delete that folder' content: application/problem+json: schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/Problem' examples: forbidden: summary: Not permitted value: type: https://docs.qontext.ai/errors/forbidden title: Not permitted status: 403 code: forbidden detail: This key is not allowed to do that. requestId: 3f9c2b7e4d1a48c0b6e5f2a19d7c3e8b '404': description: '`folder_not_found`: no such folder readable with this key' content: application/problem+json: schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/Problem' examples: folder_not_found: summary: Folder not found value: type: https://docs.qontext.ai/errors/folder-not-found title: Folder not found status: 404 code: folder_not_found detail: >- No folder at that path, or none this key is allowed to read. requestId: 3f9c2b7e4d1a48c0b6e5f2a19d7c3e8b '409': description: >- `folder_not_empty`: the folder still has contents; send `recursive=true` to remove them. `changes_in_review`: the folder contains files with changes in review; try again once those are accepted or rejected. content: application/problem+json: schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/Problem' examples: folder_not_empty: summary: Folder not empty value: type: https://docs.qontext.ai/errors/folder-not-empty title: Folder not empty status: 409 code: folder_not_empty detail: >- This folder still has contents. Delete those first, or send `recursive=true`. requestId: 3f9c2b7e4d1a48c0b6e5f2a19d7c3e8b changes_in_review: summary: Changes in review value: type: https://docs.qontext.ai/errors/changes-in-review title: Changes in review status: 409 code: changes_in_review detail: >- This folder contains files with changes in review. Try again after those changes are accepted or rejected. requestId: 3f9c2b7e4d1a48c0b6e5f2a19d7c3e8b '500': description: '`internal_error`: unexpected failure, already reported' content: application/problem+json: schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/Problem' examples: internal_error: summary: Internal error value: type: https://docs.qontext.ai/errors/internal-error title: Internal error status: 500 code: internal_error detail: An unexpected error occurred. requestId: 3f9c2b7e4d1a48c0b6e5f2a19d7c3e8b '503': description: >- `service_unavailable`: temporarily unreachable. Honour `Retry-After`. content: application/problem+json: schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/Problem' examples: service_unavailable: summary: Temporarily unavailable value: type: https://docs.qontext.ai/errors/service-unavailable title: Temporarily unavailable status: 503 code: service_unavailable detail: This workspace is temporarily unavailable. requestId: 3f9c2b7e4d1a48c0b6e5f2a19d7c3e8b security: - Authorization: [] - X-API-Key: [] components: schemas: Problem: type: object properties: type: type: string example: https://docs.qontext.ai/errors/file-not-found description: >- Stable URI for this kind of failure. Branch on this or on `code`, never on `title` or `detail`. title: type: string example: File not found description: Human label. Not for branching on. status: type: number example: 404 description: Matches the HTTP status. code: type: string example: file_not_found description: Stable machine code. This is what a client branches on. detail: type: string description: >- Human explanation, safe to display. Never a stack trace or engine detail. requestId: type: string description: >- Echoes the `X-Request-Id` response header. One string locates the log line for this call. errors: description: Present when the failure is attributable to specific inputs. type: array items: $ref: '#/components/schemas/FieldError' required: - type - title - status - code - detail - requestId FieldError: type: object properties: code: type: string example: out_of_range description: Stable machine token for what was wrong with this field. pointer: type: string example: /limit description: JSON Pointer to the offending member. detail: type: string example: limit must not be greater than 1000 description: >- Human explanation for this field alone. Branch on `code`, not on this. required: - code - pointer - detail securitySchemes: Authorization: type: http scheme: bearer description: >- Workspace-scoped API key, sent as a bearer token. The recommended header. The workspace is implicit in the key and never appears in a URL. X-API-Key: type: apiKey in: header name: X-API-Key description: >- The same workspace-scoped API key under its original header. Still supported, and still enough on its own. Prefer `Authorization: Bearer` for a new client. ````