# Delete rows matching `where`. `mode`: "archive" (default, move to the table's archive

`POST /datanotes/operations/delete_rows/` (operation `delete_rows`)

Delete rows matching `where`. `mode`: "archive" (default, move to the table's archive
folder) or "delete" (trash; content journaled for undo). `on_referenced`: "restrict"
(default, refuse rows other notes link to), "set_null" (clear front matter links to them) or
"ignore" (the links stay, to no row: an archived row is gone as a trashed one, so check_table
reports them as `broken_link` and new links to it are refused). `where` is required: `{}` deletes every row.

## Parameters

| Name | In | Type | Required | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `X-Datanotes-Actor` | header | `string` | no | JSON: on whose behalf the write is made, recorded in the journal (`harness`, `model`, `session`). |

## Request body

`application/json`, required

| Property | Type | Required | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `table` | `string` | yes |  |  |
| `where` | `object` | yes |  | The rows to change; {} is every row of the table. |
| `mode` | `"archive" \| "delete" \| null` | no | `null` |  |
| `on_referenced` | `"restrict" \| "set_null" \| "ignore" \| null` | no | `null` |  |
| `dry_run` | `boolean` | no | `false` |  |

## Responses

| Status | Description | Body |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 200 | Done. | `OpResult` (application/json) |
| 400 | Bad input: the body is not a JSON object, or an argument is unknown, missing or of the wrong type. | `Error` (application/json) |
| 401 | Missing or wrong bearer token. | `Error` (application/json) |
| 403 | A named token beyond its permissions (the engine's administration, tables outside its `write` patterns, schema changes without `ddl`). | `Error` (application/json) |
| 404 | Unknown table, view, migration, note or folder. | `Error` (application/json) |
| 409 | Ambiguous table name: it matches several tables (`paths` or `tables` lists them). | `AmbiguousName` (application/json) |
| 422 | Refused (validation failures, conflicts, an unmet `expect`): nothing written. Same body as 200, with `ok: false` and the reasons. | `OpResult` (application/json) |
| 500 | Unexpected error (`{error}`), or a write that failed partway and could not be rolled back: `rolled_back: false`, `failed` lists the files left (undo_migration on `migration_id` retries the rollback). | `OpResult \| Error` (application/json) |
| 503 | A write that failed partway (a file another program holds) and was rolled back: `rolled_back: true`, nothing written. Send it again later. Same body as 200, with `ok: false` and `failed`. | `OpResult` (application/json) |

The schemas named here are in [openapi.json](https://datanotes.dev/openapi.json) (`components.schemas`).