Memory deletion

Soft deletion is the public default

DELETE /v1/memories/{memory_id} defaults to mode=soft_delete. POST /v1/memories/{memory_id}/forget accepts the same MemoryForgetRequest family with mode, reason, replacement_content, and metadata. A soft delete creates a tombstone and a version snapshot, changes the memory status to deleted, and can be followed by restore.

DELETE /v1/memories/<memory-id>?mode=soft_delete&reason=user-requested
X-API-Key: <your-assigned-api-key>

Forget, redact, and hard-delete are different modes

The persistence engine accepts soft_delete, redact, and hard_delete. Redact replaces content with [REDACTED] (or supplied replacement content), clears metadata and embeddings, and records safe redaction provenance. Hard delete is irreversible and is protected by the stronger memory:hard_delete authorization path; do not choose it as a routine correction.

• soft_delete — recoverable deletion with a tombstone and version snapshot.
• redact — retain a non-content tombstone/result while removing the original content and embedding.
• hard_delete — permanent removal path requiring the stronger delete capability.

Restore only a soft-deleted memory

POST /v1/memories/{memory_id}/restore accepts MemoryRestoreRequest with an optional reason and metadata. The persistence path restores status=active and increments the version; a redacted memory cannot be restored because its original content is no longer available.

POST /v1/memories/<memory-id>/restore
X-API-Key: <your-assigned-api-key>
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "reason": "owner-confirmed recovery"
}

Deletion is authorized and audited

The REST mutation path checks the mode-specific memory scope and owner-scoped key before resolving the target. It writes memory tombstone/audit evidence with the requested mode, reason presence, and target references without exposing the forgotten content.