To remove specific machines from a node pool, first, use this API to apply a JSON merge patch. The only effective change required in the patch is setting the cluster.x-k8s.io/delete-machine annotation under metadata.annotations.

Once these annotations are applied, use the Scale Node Pool API to update the machine count. For example, if the node pool currently has five machines and you want to remove two, set the number of replicas to 5 - 2 = 3.