Delete a table

Use the influxdb3 delete table command or the HTTP API to delete a table from a specified database in InfluxDB 3 Enterprise.

With InfluxDB 3 Enterprise, tables and measurements are synonymous. By default, InfluxDB 3 Enterprise performs a soft delete, which schedules the table for deletion and makes it unavailable for querying. You can also schedule a hard deletion to permanently remove the table and its data.

• Delete a table using the influxdb3 CLI
• Delete a table using the HTTP API
• Delete data only (preserve schema and resources)

Delete a table using the influxdb3 CLI

Use the influxdb3 delete table command to delete a table:

influxdb3 delete table \
  --database 
DATABASE_NAME
 \
  --token 
AUTH_TOKEN
 \
  
TABLE_NAME

Replace the following:

• DATABASE_NAME: the name of the database containing the table
• TABLE_NAME: the name of the table to delete
• AUTH_TOKEN: your admin token

Hard delete a table immediately

To permanently delete a table and its data immediately, use the --hard-delete now flag:

influxdb3 delete table \
  --database 
DATABASE_NAME
 \
  --token 
AUTH_TOKEN
 \
  --hard-delete now \
  
TABLE_NAME

Schedule a hard deletion

To schedule a table for hard deletion at a specific time, use the --hard-delete flag with a timestamp:

influxdb3 delete table \
  --database 
DATABASE_NAME
 \
  --token 
AUTH_TOKEN
 \
  --hard-delete "2025-12-31T23:59:59Z" \
  
TABLE_NAME

Delete a table using the HTTP API

To delete a table using the HTTP API, send a DELETE request to the /api/v3/configure/table endpoint:

DELETE localhost:8181/api/v3/configure/table

Include the following in your request:

• Query parameters:
  • db: Database name
  • table: Table name to delete
  • hard_delete_at: (Optional) Timestamp for hard deletion
• Headers:
  • Authorization: Bearer with your authentication token

Soft delete a table

curl -X DELETE "localhost:8181
/api/v3/configure/table?db=
DATABASE_NAME
&table=
TABLE_NAME
" \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer 
AUTH_TOKEN
"

Replace the following:

• DATABASE_NAME: the name of the database containing the table
• TABLE_NAME: the name of the table to delete
• AUTH_TOKEN: your admin token

Schedule a hard deletion

To schedule a hard deletion at a specific time, include the hard_delete_at parameter with an ISO 8601 timestamp:

curl -X DELETE "localhost:8181
/api/v3/configure/table?db=
DATABASE_NAME
&table=
TABLE_NAME
&hard_delete_at=2025-12-31T23:59:59Z" \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer 
AUTH_TOKEN
"

Response

A successful deletion returns HTTP status 200 with no content body.

Example error response

If the table doesn’t exist, the API returns HTTP status 404:

{
  "error": "Table not found"
}

Delete data only (preserve schema and resources)

InfluxDB 3 Enterprise supports deleting only the data in a table while preserving the table schema and associated resources. This is useful when you want to clear old data and re-write new data to the same table structure without recreating resources.

What is preserved

When using the data-only deletion option, the following are preserved:

• Table schema: Column definitions and data types
• Caches: Last value caches (LVC) and distinct value caches (DVC) associated with the table

Delete data only using the CLI

Use the --data-only flag to delete data while preserving the table schema and resources:

influxdb3 delete table \
  --database 
DATABASE_NAME
 \
  --token 
AUTH_TOKEN
 \
  --data-only \
  
TABLE_NAME

Replace the following:

• DATABASE_NAME: the name of the database containing the table
• TABLE_NAME: the name of the table
• AUTH_TOKEN: your admin token

Delete data only using the HTTP API

To delete only data using the HTTP API, include the data_only=true query parameter:

curl -X DELETE "localhost:8181
/api/v3/configure/table?db=
DATABASE_NAME
&table=
TABLE_NAME
&data_only=true" \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer 
AUTH_TOKEN
"

Replace the following:

• DATABASE_NAME: the name of the database containing the table
• TABLE_NAME: the name of the table
• AUTH_TOKEN: your admin token