Removing objects

The delete command destroys one or more objects by id. Singletons cannot be destroyed (they can only be updated; see Updating objects).

Synopsis

stalwart-cli delete <object> ( --ids id1,id2,... | --stdin )

• <object>: object type name (with or without x: prefix). The slash form is rejected.
• --ids: comma-separated list of ids.
• --stdin: read ids from standard input.

Exactly one of --ids and --stdin must be supplied.

Direct ids

stalwart-cli delete domain --ids xyz789
stalwart-cli delete domain --ids id1,id2,id3

Whitespace around commas is tolerated. Empty entries are ignored.

Reading ids from stdin

--stdin accepts either a JSON array of strings:

echo '["id1","id2","id3"]' | stalwart-cli delete domain --stdin

or a comma-, space-, or newline-separated list:

printf 'id1\nid2\nid3\n' | stalwart-cli delete domain --stdin

This is convenient when piping from query:

stalwart-cli query domain --where namespace=tmp --json \
  | stalwart-cli delete domain --stdin

(Replace --json with the appropriate jq filter as needed: ... --json | jq -r '.[] | .id' | xargs -d, stalwart-cli delete domain --ids for an alternate flow.)

Output

One line per id, then a summary:

id1 deleted
id2 deleted
id3 failed: objectIsLinked
  Linked by:   DkimSignature#abc, DkimSignature#def
2 deleted, 1 failed

The exit status is 0 if every deletion succeeded and non-zero if at least one failed. Failed entries report the JMAP SetError type, the linked objects (when applicable), and any validation details.

Batching

Internally, deletions are split into batches of maxObjectsInSet (taken from the JMAP session, typically 500). Large deletes are streamed without any extra effort from the caller.

Common failures

SetError type	Meaning	Resolution
objectIsLinked	Other objects reference this one	Destroy the linked objects first (the message lists them)
notFound	The id does not exist	Confirm with query
forbidden	Insufficient permissions on this object type	Authenticate as a user with the required permission
singleton	An attempt was made to destroy a singleton	Use update instead

For dependency-aware bulk teardowns (where order matters), the apply command processes destroys in reverse plan order, which makes it the right tool for tearing down full deployments.

See also

• Searching and listing to obtain the ids to delete.
• Declarative bulk operations for filter-based destroys and dependency-ordered teardowns.