# Delete client

Delete client is a command in the HeadHoncho API. Erase a person from the book. Their jobs stay, but lose the name and phone. It cannot be undone.

Page: https://headhoncho.app/docs/api/delete_client | Part of the HeadHoncho API docs: https://headhoncho.app/docs/api | Machine-readable: https://headhoncho.app/docs/api/openapi.json | Everything in one file: https://headhoncho.app/docs/api/llms-full.txt

## The request

Reference for **Delete client**, HeadHoncho API v1. It is a command, sent to the base address `https://api.headhoncho.app`.

`POST /api/v1/commands/delete-client`

The key needs the **Jobs** area at **do**. An answered call costs 1 credit; a refusal costs nothing. See [credits](https://headhoncho.app/docs/api/errors#credits).

It runs the app's own command `delete-client`. Send an `Idempotency-Key` header with every call: the same key with the same body returns the first answer and runs nothing twice. See [the model](https://headhoncho.app/docs/api/model#idempotency).

## Parameters

| Name | Kind | Required | Description | Example |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `client_id` | id, in the JSON body | Yes | From List clients. | `cli_9c40` |

## Try it with your key

Paste your key and change the values. The box builds the call as a cURL line and a fetch line, ready to copy. It never sends anything itself.

Paste your key on the web page and it fills a cURL line and a fetch line with your key and the example values. The page never sends the key anywhere. The same lines with a placeholder key are under Examples below.

## What comes back

accepted, client_id, jobs_detached (how many jobs lost this person), addresses_detached, scrubbed and position. scrubbed is true when the client had jobs: the row is kept as "Deleted client" with no phone or email, because every job needs a client. A client with no jobs is removed outright.

It never deletes anything. It changes only what the command names, and it writes the change to the job's history with who asked for it.

## Every field in the answer

Types are read from the example answer. Money is a plain number in the company's currency. A time carries its offset from UTC (`Z` is UTC). Ids are opaque text. A field with no line of its own here has its name spelled out; the common fields mean the same on every page.

| Field | Type | Meaning |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `accepted` | true or false | True when the command ran. A command that cannot run is an error instead. |
| `client_id` | id (text) | The id of the client. |
| `jobs_detached` | whole number | The jobs detached. |
| `addresses_detached` | whole number | The addresses detached. |
| `scrubbed` | true or false | The scrubbed. |
| `position` | whole number | Where the change landed in the event log. Pass it as `after` on a read to see your own write. |

## Needs every company

The client book is the whole workspace's, not one company's. A credential that reaches only some companies is refused with no_access, so it can never read or change a person who also belongs to a company it cannot see.

## Erasing

This is the right to be forgotten, kept. The name, phone and email are gone for good, from the book and from the history of the client. The jobs and their money stay as business facts. Ask the person to confirm before you send it.

## Errors that apply

| Code | Status | What it means |
| --- | --- | --- |
| [`missing_key`](https://headhoncho.app/docs/api/errors#missing_key) | 401 | Send your key as Authorization: Bearer hh_live_... |
| [`unknown_key`](https://headhoncho.app/docs/api/errors#unknown_key) | 401 | That key is not one we issued, or it was revoked. |
| [`no_access`](https://headhoncho.app/docs/api/errors#no_access) | 403 | This credential does not reach that. Ask the person who made it for access. |
| [`read_only`](https://headhoncho.app/docs/api/errors#read_only) | 403 | This credential may read this area but not change it. |
| [`not_found`](https://headhoncho.app/docs/api/errors#not_found) | 404 | No such record in the companies this credential reaches. |
| [`invalid`](https://headhoncho.app/docs/api/errors#invalid) | 422 | Some fields were refused. See fields. |
| [`missing_idempotency_key`](https://headhoncho.app/docs/api/errors#missing_idempotency_key) | 400 | Send an Idempotency-Key header on every command. |
| [`idempotency_mismatch`](https://headhoncho.app/docs/api/errors#idempotency_mismatch) | 409 | This Idempotency-Key was used with a different body. |
| [`idempotency_in_progress`](https://headhoncho.app/docs/api/errors#idempotency_in_progress) | 409 | A command with this Idempotency-Key is still running. Wait a moment and send it again. |
| [`no_credits`](https://headhoncho.app/docs/api/errors#no_credits) | 402 | Out of credits. Top up on Settings › Credits, or turn on auto top-up. |

## Related

- [Create client](https://headhoncho.app/docs/api/create_client): Add a client to the book before they have a job. One phone number is one client.
- [Update client](https://headhoncho.app/docs/api/update_client): Correct a client's name, phones or email. Only the fields you send change.
- The same records in the app: [the Jobs panel](https://headhoncho.app/docs/jobs).
- How the API fits together: [the model](https://headhoncho.app/docs/api/model), [API keys](https://headhoncho.app/docs/api/keys), [errors](https://headhoncho.app/docs/api/errors) and [the MCP server](https://headhoncho.app/docs/api/mcp).

## Examples

### Answer

```json
{
  "accepted": true,
  "client_id": "cli_9c40",
  "jobs_detached": 3,
  "addresses_detached": 2,
  "scrubbed": true,
  "position": 88510
}
```

### cURL

```bash
curl -X POST "https://api.headhoncho.app/api/v1/commands/delete-client" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer hh_live_..." \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: 6f1d2c9e-1b7a-4c1e-9a52-0d3f8e4b7a10" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
  "client_id": "cli_9c40"
}'
```

### Python

```python
import requests
import uuid

response = requests.post(
    "https://api.headhoncho.app/api/v1/commands/delete-client",
    headers={
        "Authorization": "Bearer hh_live_...",
        "Idempotency-Key": str(uuid.uuid4()),
    },
    json={
        "client_id": "cli_9c40",
    },
)
response.raise_for_status()
print(response.json())
```

### JavaScript

```javascript
const response = await fetch("https://api.headhoncho.app/api/v1/commands/delete-client", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: {
    Authorization: "Bearer hh_live_...",
    "Idempotency-Key": crypto.randomUUID(),
    "Content-Type": "application/json",
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    "client_id": "cli_9c40"
  }),
});
const data = await response.json();
console.log(data);
```

### Your AI

```text
Tool: delete_client
Arguments: client_id (id, required)
Access: do on Jobs
Hints: readOnly=false, destructive=true, idempotent=true, openWorld=false
Try asking: "Using HeadHoncho, delete client with client_id cli_9c40."
```