---
title: "Delete a contact"
method: DELETE
path: "/v1/contacts/{contact_id}"
tags: ["email-contacts"]
---

# Delete a contact

`DELETE /v1/contacts/{contact_id}`

## Request

- Base URL: `https://us1.platform.bird.com`
- URL: `https://us1.platform.bird.com/v1/contacts/{contact_id}`
- Auth: one of:
  - HTTP bearer
  - API key in cookie `bird_session`

Deletes a contact permanently and removes it from every audience it belongs to. Suppression records for the address are not affected: an unsubscribed or bounced address stays suppressed even after the contact is deleted. Deletion is refused while any eSIM subscriber links to the contact, including subscribers without an active eSIM. Subscriber links cannot currently be deleted, detached, or anonymized; ending or releasing an eSIM does not restore Contact deletion.

## Path parameters

- `contact_id` string, required

## Headers

- `Idempotency-Key` string
- `X-Workspace-Id` string
- `X-Organization-Id` string

## Response `204`

Contact deleted.

## Other responses

- `400`: Bad request
- `401`: Authentication required
- `403`: Insufficient permissions
- `404`: Resource not found
- `409`: Resource conflict
- `422`: The request has invalid field values, violates a business rule, or carries a query parameter the endpoint does not declare. Field validation errors use `type: validation_error` and include the affected fields in `details`. Business-rule errors identify the failed rule in `type`.
- `429`: Rate limit exceeded
- `500`: Internal server error
- `503`: The service is temporarily unavailable. If `Retry-After` is present, wait for that delay before retrying; otherwise, retry with exponential backoff. Reuse the same idempotency key and request when retrying a mutation.

---

[API](https://skmtc.dev/messagebird/apis/bird-api.md) · [All operations](https://skmtc.dev/messagebird/apis/bird-api/llms.txt) · [OpenAPI document](https://skmtc.dev/messagebird/apis/bird-api/revisions/6dfce1179799?raw)