---
title: Delete an item and optionally, its children in a Push source
slug: '171'
canonical_url: https://docs.coveo.com/en/171/
collection: index-content
source_format: adoc
---
# Delete an item and optionally, its children in a Push source
:figure-caption!:
Being able to delete a single [item](https://docs.coveo.com/en/210.md) in a Push [source](https://docs.coveo.com/en/246.md), possibly along with its children, can be especially useful when you're testing the service or performing a very small content update.
Use the `Delete an item and optionally its children` request only to delete one item, or an item and its children.
To maximize efficiency and comply with [Push API quotas and constraints](https://docs.coveo.com/en/63.md), don't use this request repeatedly to delete many items in a Push source.
If this is what you need to do, you should either use:
* The [batch update requests](https://docs.coveo.com/en/90.md).
* The [`Delete old items`](https://docs.coveo.com/en/131.md) request.
**Sequence diagram illustrating the handling of a `Delete an item and optionally its children` Push API request (highlighted) as it progresses through the [Coveo indexing pipeline](https://docs.coveo.com/en/1893.md).**
## Request template
> **Note**
>
> The Push API still uses region-specific endpoints.
> Use the endpoint that matches the primary deployment region of your Coveo organization.
**US East region**
Details
```http
DELETE https://api.cloud.coveo.com/push/v1/organizations//sources//documents?deleteChildren=&documentId= HTTP/1.1
Accept: application/json
Authorization: Bearer
```
Details
```http
DELETE https://api-ca.cloud.coveo.com/push/v1/organizations//sources//documents?deleteChildren=&documentId= HTTP/1.1
Accept: application/json
Authorization: Bearer
```
Details
```http
DELETE https://api-eu.cloud.coveo.com/push/v1/organizations//sources//documents?deleteChildren=&documentId= HTTP/1.1
Accept: application/json
Authorization: Bearer
```
Details
```http
DELETE https://api-au.cloud.coveo.com/push/v1/organizations//sources//documents?deleteChildren=&documentId= HTTP/1.1
Accept: application/json
Authorization: Bearer
```
Details
```http
DELETE https://apihipaa.cloud.coveo.com/push/v1/organizations//sources//documents?deleteChildren=&documentId= HTTP/1.1
Accept: application/json
Authorization: Bearer
```
Details
In the request path:
* Replace `` with your [organization ID](https://docs.coveo.com/en/148.md).
* Replace `` with your Push [source's ID](https://docs.coveo.com/en/3390.md#copy-a-source-name-or-id).
In the query string:
* Set `deleteChildren` to `true` to delete all items whose URLs begin with `` + `/`.
For example, if `documentId` is set to `file://folder`, items `file://folder/file1.txt` and `file://folder/subfolder/file2.txt` would be deleted.
+
Set `deleteChildren` to `false` otherwise.
* Replace `` with the URL-encoded [document ID](https://docs.coveo.com/en/78.md#query-parameters-delete) of the item to delete in the target Push source (for example, `file%3A%2F%2Ffolder%2FdummyItem.html`).
In the `Authorization` HTTP header:
* Replace `` with a Push source API key that grants the [set of privileges required to push items](https://docs.coveo.com/en/1546.md#api-key) to your source.