---
title: "Delete a face detection"
method: DELETE
path: "/api/faces/{face_id}"
tags: ["faces"]
---

# Delete a face detection

`DELETE /api/faces/{face_id}`

Removes one face detection row; the underlying asset and the person this face was assigned to are both preserved.

**Use `update_face` with `person_id=null` instead** when the user wants to disassociate the face from a person without discarding the detection (so re-clustering can try again). Use `delete_person` to remove a person; use `trash_assets` to remove the photo entirely.

## Path parameters

- `face_id` string, required — Face ID (with `face_` prefix) of the face detection to delete.

## Query parameters

- `library_id` string, nullable — Library the face belongs to. Optional if the user has a single live (non-trashed) library; required when they have multiple.

## Response `200`

Successful Response

- DeletionResponse — Empty acknowledgment returned when an operation succeeds.

## Other responses

- `401` — Missing, invalid, or expired credentials.
- `403` — The credentials are valid but not authorized for this operation — for example an API key whose action or library scope excludes it, or a credential type this operation does not accept.
- `404` — Not found
- `422` — Validation Error
- `429` — Rate limit exceeded. Retry after the interval in the `Retry-After` header.

## Changes

- **2026-08-08** `815e0302a988` — 1 breaking, 1 info
  - response property `detail` list-of-types was widened by adding types `string` to media type `application/json` of response `422`
  - the response property `detail` became required for the status `422`
- **2026-08-05** `c3e15c78f2da` — 4 info
  - added the media type `application/json` for the response with the status `404`
  - added the non-success response with the status `401`
  - added the non-success response with the status `403`
  - added the non-success response with the status `429`
- **2026-05-18** `9af798cdc7db` — 1 breaking, 1 info
  - removed the success response with the status `204`
  - added the success response with the status `200`

[Change history](https://skmtc.dev/gumnut-ai/apis/gumnut-api/changes/api/faces/:face_id/delete.md)

---

[API](https://skmtc.dev/gumnut-ai/apis/gumnut-api.md) · [All operations](https://skmtc.dev/gumnut-ai/apis/gumnut-api/llms.txt) · [OpenAPI document](https://skmtc-service-production.skmtc.workers.dev/v1/apis/gumnut-ai/gumnut-api/revisions/2c3aca3a6e6d/schema)