---
title: "Expire a PDF submission"
method: DELETE
path: "/submissions/{submission_id}"
tags: ["PDF Submissions"]
---

# Expire a PDF submission

`DELETE /submissions/{submission_id}`

Expiring a PDF submission deletes the PDF and removes the data from our database.
This is useful for invalidating sensitive documents after they've been downloaded.
You can also [configure a data retention policy for your submissions](https://docspring.com/docs/template-editor/settings/#expire-submissions)
so that they automatically expire.

## Path parameters

- `submission_id` string, required

## Response `200`

submission was expired

- SubmissionPreview
  - `batch_id` string, nullable, required
  - `data_requests` SubmissionDataRequest[], required
    - `id` string, nullable, required
    - `email` string, nullable, required
    - `name` string, nullable, required
    - `order` integer, nullable, required
    - `sort_order` integer, required
    - `fields` string[], nullable, required
    - `metadata` object, nullable, required
    - `state` 'pending' | 'completed', required
    - `viewed_at` string, nullable, required
    - `completed_at` string, nullable, required
    - `data` object, nullable, required
    - `auth_type` 'none' | 'password' | 'oauth' | 'email_link' | 'phone_number' | 'ldap' | 'saml', required
    - `auth_second_factor_type` 'none' | 'phone_number' | 'totp' | 'mobile_push' | 'security_key' | 'fingerprint', required
    - `auth_provider` string, nullable, required
    - `auth_session_started_at` string, nullable, required
    - `auth_session_id_hash` string, nullable, required
    - `auth_user_id_hash` string, nullable, required
    - `auth_username_hash` string, nullable, required
    - `auth_phone_number_hash` string, nullable, required
    - `ip_address` string, nullable, required
    - `user_agent` string, nullable, required
  - `editable` boolean, nullable, required
  - `error_message` string, nullable, required
  - `expired` boolean, required
  - `expires_at` string, nullable, required
  - `id` string, nullable, required
  - `json_schema_errors` string[], nullable, required
  - `metadata` object, required
  - `password` string, nullable, required
  - `processed_at` string, nullable, required
  - `state` 'pending' | 'processed' | 'invalid_data' | 'error' | 'image_download_failed' | 'image_processing_failed' | 'waiting_for_data_requests' | 'syntax_error' | 'account_suspended' | 'license_revoked' | 'accidental', required
  - `template_id` string, nullable, required
  - `template_type` 'pdf' | 'html', required
  - `template_version` string, nullable, required
  - `test` boolean, required
  - `truncated_text` object, nullable, required
  - `pdf_hash` string, nullable, required
  - `download_url` string, nullable, required
  - `permanent_download_url` string, nullable, required
  - `preview_download_url` string, nullable, required
  - `preview_generated_at` string, nullable, required
  - `audit_trail_download_url` string, nullable, required
  - `actions` SubmissionAction[], required
    - `id` string, nullable, required
    - `integration_id` string, nullable, required
    - `state` 'pending' | 'processed' | 'failed' | 'error', required
    - `action_type` 'webhook' | 'slack_webhook' | 'email' | 'aws_s3_upload', required
    - `action_category` 'notification' | 'file_upload', required
    - `result_data` object, required
    - `error_message` string, nullable, required

## Other responses

- `401` — authentication failed
- `403` — test API token used
- `404` — submission not found

---

[API](https://skmtc.dev/docspring/apis/docspring-api.md) · [All operations](https://skmtc.dev/docspring/apis/docspring-api/llms.txt) · [OpenAPI document](https://skmtc-service-production.skmtc.workers.dev/v1/apis/docspring/docspring-api/revisions/5726657b9432/schema)