Delete branch

Deletes the specified branch from a project and places all compute endpoints into an idle state, breaking existing client connections.

DELETE /projects/{project_id}/branches/{branch_id}

Deletes the specified branch from a project and places all compute endpoints into an idle state, breaking existing client connections.

The deletion completes after all operations finish. You cannot delete a project's root or default branch, or a branch that has a child branch. A project must have at least one branch.

For related information, see Manage branches.

Markdown for AI context

REST API - curl

curl "https://console.neon.tech/api/v2/projects/$PROJECT_ID/branches/$BRANCH_ID" \
  -X DELETE \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $NEON_API_KEY"

Every field below is optional. An empty body works too.

Also available in

Bash

neon branches delete <branch_id>

Tool: delete_branch

Delete a branch and all its data. NEVER run autonomously; always ask the user first. For deleting an entire project, use delete_project instead.

projectId (string, required) The ID of the project containing the branch
branchId (string, required) The ID of the branch to delete

Console path: Projects → Branches

Parameters

Project ID

project_id

string

The Neon project ID

Branch ID

branch_id

string

The branch ID

Response

200

Deleted the specified branch

Depth

Errors

default

General error

This endpoint can return the standard Neon API error response.

Response fields

message Required. Human-readable error message.
code Required. Machine-readable error code.
request_id Optional. Request identifier for debugging. You can provide one with the X-Request-ID header.

Retry guidance

If no response is returned, the request may still have reached the server. This is why retry safety depends on the method and status code.

Idempotent methods (GET, HEAD, OPTIONS) are generally safe to retry after a network error or timeout. Non-idempotent methods (POST, PATCH, DELETE, PUT) can change state, so avoid automatic retries unless your workflow can tolerate duplicate effects.

Responses with 423 Locked or 503 Service Unavailable are safe to retry. 423 Locked means the resource is temporarily locked, usually because another operation is in progress.