---
title: "Delete a sent email"
method: DELETE
path: "/sent-emails/{id}"
tags: ["Sending"]
---

# Delete a sent email

`DELETE /sent-emails/{id}`

## Request

- Base URL: `https://api.primitive.dev/v1`
- URL: `https://api.primitive.dev/v1/sent-emails/{id}`
- Auth: HTTP bearer

Permanently deletes eligible sender mailbox history and its owned attachment archive and transient payload. Allows delivered, bounced, agent_failed, gate_denied, canceled, deferred and wait_timeout; other states return 409 (cancel scheduled sends first). Preserves recipient copies, received replies and independent interaction/delivery audit. This does not recall or cancel delivery already admitted. A minimal non-content record preserves occupied idempotency keys and delivered-reply deduplication. Keys already released by cancellation, gate denial or a never-attempted failure remain reusable; deleting those records does not revoke their existing retry permission. Repeating a completed deletion returns success; unknown or foreign IDs return 404. Organization API keys, sessions and OAuth are supported; Function and connected-agent credentials are denied.

## Path parameters

- `id` string, uuid, required

## Response `200`

Deleted or already deleted

- object
  - `success` unknown, required
  - `data` object, required
    - `deleted` true, required

## Other responses

- `400`: Invalid request parameters
- `401`: Invalid or missing API key
- `403`: Authenticated caller lacks permission for the operation
- `404`: Resource not found
- `409`: The request conflicts with the current state of the resource
- `429`: Rate limit exceeded. The `ratelimit-*` headers describe the limiter that rejected this request, with its own limit and window, not the API budget that successful responses report. A limiter that reports only a wait sends `Retry-After` alone.
- `500`: Database failure. Files may already be removed while the message record and cleanup references remain. Retry the same DELETE; failure does not restore files.
- `503`: Storage cleanup failed. Some files may already be removed; the message record and cleanup references remain for an idempotent retry. A failed deletion does not restore files.

## Changes

> 32 revisions in range; 1 not diffed.

- **2026-10-21** `0360ea8d4f3d`: 104 warning
  - added the new `agent_changed` enum value to the `error/code` response property for the response status `400`
  - added the new `agent_changed` enum value to the `error/code` response property for the response status `401`
  - added the new `agent_changed` enum value to the `error/code` response property for the response status `403`
  - added the new `agent_changed` enum value to the `error/code` response property for the response status `404`
  - …100 more
- **2026-10-21** `5279a7bed7ac`: 88 warning
  - added the new `archive_busy` enum value to the `error/code` response property for the response status `400`
  - added the new `archive_busy` enum value to the `error/code` response property for the response status `401`
  - added the new `archive_busy` enum value to the `error/code` response property for the response status `403`
  - added the new `archive_busy` enum value to the `error/code` response property for the response status `404`
  - …84 more
- …earlier changes not shown

[Operation history](https://skmtc.dev/primitive/apis/primitive-api/changes/sent-emails/:id/delete.md)

---

[API](https://skmtc.dev/primitive/apis/primitive-api.md) - [All operations](https://skmtc.dev/primitive/apis/primitive-api/llms.txt) - [OpenAPI document](https://skmtc.dev/primitive/apis/primitive-api/revisions/bce409c97acb?raw)