Deleting Data

Remove records by key, filter pipeline, or drop entire streams.

Delete by Key

Removes a single record by its key. Uses the in-memory index for an O(log n) lookup — no segment scan required.

from("users").delete("user_102")

Deletion is soft: a tombstone frame is appended to the log. The record is excluded from all future queries, and its space is reclaimed during compaction.

Pipeline Delete

Delete all records matching a filter pipeline:

from("users") | filter(status == "inactive") .delete()

The pipeline selects matching records, then tombstone frames are appended atomically under the write lock.

Empty a Stream

Remove all records from a stream while keeping the stream itself alive:

from("logs").empty()

Useful for clearing ephemeral data (e.g., temporary caches, session stores) without dropping the stream schema.

Drop a Stream

Completely remove a stream and all its records. The stream will no longer appear in streams() listings:

drop("old_metrics_2025")

This is an administrative action. All segments for the stream are tombstoned and the stream is removed from the active set.