# Delete every object under a key prefix (folder) in a bucket

`DELETE /projects/{project_id}/branches/{branch_id}/buckets/{bucket_name}/objects-by-prefixbeta`

Soft-deletes every object on the specified branch whose key starts with `prefix`, in a single call. Intended to back a "delete folder" action in an object browser: a `prefix` of `app/avatars/` removes every object beneath that folder. Served by the user's session (no customer S3 credentials required).

`prefix` must be non-empty, end with `/`, be at most 1024 bytes, and contain no control characters - a partial-segment prefix cannot accidentally delete sibling keys. Returns the number of objects soft-deleted (`deleted`), which may be 0 when no live object matched the prefix on this branch.

Only objects physically present on this branch are tombstoned; objects inherited from an ancestor branch via copy-on-write (not materialized on this branch) are out of scope.

**Note**: This endpoint is currently in Beta.

[Markdown for AI context](/guides/apis-sdks-reference-api-buckets-delete-project-branch-bucket-objects-by-prefix)

```bash title="REST API - curl"
curl "https://console.neon.tech/api/v2/projects/$PROJECT_ID/branches/$BRANCH_ID/buckets/$BUCKET_NAME/objects-by-prefix?prefix=$PREFIX" \
  -X DELETE \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $NEON_API_KEY"
```

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

Also available in

::::tabs
:::tab{title="CLI"}
```bash
neon buckets object delete <branch_id>
```
:::

:::tab{title="SDK"}
:::
::::

## Parameters

Project ID

`project_id`

string

The Neon project ID

Branch ID

`branch_id`

string

The Neon branch ID

Bucket name

`bucket_name`

string

The bucket name

Prefix

`prefix`

string

The key prefix (folder) to delete. Must be non-empty and end with `/`. Every object on this branch whose key starts with this prefix is soft-deleted.

## Response

200

The prefix was soft-deleted. `deleted` is the number of objects tombstoned (may be 0 when nothing live matched on this branch).

::::tabs
:::tab{title="schema"}
Depth
:::

:::tab{title="example"}
:::
::::

"deleted": (integer),reqint64

## Errors

404

Bucket not found

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.

## Related pages

- [Create a bucket on the branch](./apis-sdks-reference-api-buckets-create-project-branch-bucket.md)
- [Delete a bucket on the branch](./apis-sdks-reference-api-buckets-delete-project-branch-bucket.md)
- [Delete an object in a bucket](./apis-sdks-reference-api-buckets-delete-project-branch-bucket-object.md)
- [Download an object's bytes](./apis-sdks-reference-api-buckets-get-project-branch-bucket-object.md)
- [List buckets on the branch](./apis-sdks-reference-api-buckets-list-project-branch-buckets.md)
- [List objects in a bucket](./apis-sdks-reference-api-buckets-list-project-branch-bucket-objects.md)
- [Presign an upload or download for an object in a bucket](./apis-sdks-reference-api-buckets-presign-project-branch-bucket-object.md)

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