> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.skillsdb.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Delete a skill

> Soft-deletes the skill, matching the app's skills-library semantics: career attachments, grades and history are preserved as historic data, but the skill leaves every listing and filter. When the skill is attached to careers or held by people, the delete refuses with a 409 carrying the dependency counts; retry with ?confirm=true to proceed. Prefer archive for a reversible retirement.

**Requires scope:** `skills:write`.



## OpenAPI

````yaml /api-docs/openapi.v1.json delete /api/v1/skills/{id}
openapi: 3.0.0
info:
  title: SkillsDB Public API
  description: >-
    The SkillsDB public REST API. Authenticate every request with an API key
    created in Settings → API Credentials, sent as `Authorization: Bearer
    sdb_live_…`. Errors follow RFC 9457 problem details; every `type` URI
    resolves under https://help.skillsdb.com/api-docs/errors/.
  version: '1'
  contact: {}
servers:
  - url: https://prod.skillsdbnext.com
    description: Production
  - url: https://staging.skillsdbnext.com
    description: Staging
security: []
tags: []
paths:
  /api/v1/skills/{id}:
    delete:
      tags:
        - Skills
      summary: Delete a skill
      description: >-
        Soft-deletes the skill, matching the app's skills-library semantics:
        career attachments, grades and history are preserved as historic data,
        but the skill leaves every listing and filter. When the skill is
        attached to careers or held by people, the delete refuses with a 409
        carrying the dependency counts; retry with ?confirm=true to proceed.
        Prefer archive for a reversible retirement.


        **Requires scope:** `skills:write`.
      operationId: deleteSkill
      parameters:
        - name: Idempotency-Key
          in: header
          required: false
          description: >-
            Any unique string (at most 200 characters). Retrying with the same
            key and identical content replays the stored response for 24h
            instead of executing twice.
          schema:
            type: string
            maxLength: 200
        - name: id
          required: true
          in: path
          schema:
            type: string
          description: Opaque resource id.
        - name: confirm
          required: false
          in: query
          schema:
            type: boolean
          description: The literal string `true` confirms the delete despite dependents.
      responses:
        '400':
          description: >-
            Validation failed
            (`https://help.skillsdb.com/api-docs/errors/validation-error`)
          content:
            application/problem+json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/ProblemDetailsDto'
          headers:
            X-Request-Id:
              description: Unique id for this request — quote it when contacting support.
              schema:
                type: string
            RateLimit-Limit:
              description: The bucket's hourly allowance.
              schema:
                type: integer
            RateLimit-Remaining:
              description: Requests left in the current window.
              schema:
                type: integer
            RateLimit-Reset:
              description: Seconds until the window resets.
              schema:
                type: integer
        '401':
          description: >-
            Invalid credential
            (`https://help.skillsdb.com/api-docs/errors/invalid-credential`)
          content:
            application/problem+json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/ProblemDetailsDto'
          headers:
            X-Request-Id:
              description: Unique id for this request — quote it when contacting support.
              schema:
                type: string
            RateLimit-Limit:
              description: The bucket's hourly allowance.
              schema:
                type: integer
            RateLimit-Remaining:
              description: Requests left in the current window.
              schema:
                type: integer
            RateLimit-Reset:
              description: Seconds until the window resets.
              schema:
                type: integer
        '403':
          description: >-
            Insufficient scope
            (`https://help.skillsdb.com/api-docs/errors/insufficient-scope`) ·
            Insufficient permissions
            (`https://help.skillsdb.com/api-docs/errors/insufficient-permissions`)
          content:
            application/problem+json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/ProblemDetailsDto'
          headers:
            X-Request-Id:
              description: Unique id for this request — quote it when contacting support.
              schema:
                type: string
            RateLimit-Limit:
              description: The bucket's hourly allowance.
              schema:
                type: integer
            RateLimit-Remaining:
              description: Requests left in the current window.
              schema:
                type: integer
            RateLimit-Reset:
              description: Seconds until the window resets.
              schema:
                type: integer
        '404':
          description: Not found (`https://help.skillsdb.com/api-docs/errors/not-found`)
          content:
            application/problem+json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/ProblemDetailsDto'
          headers:
            X-Request-Id:
              description: Unique id for this request — quote it when contacting support.
              schema:
                type: string
            RateLimit-Limit:
              description: The bucket's hourly allowance.
              schema:
                type: integer
            RateLimit-Remaining:
              description: Requests left in the current window.
              schema:
                type: integer
            RateLimit-Reset:
              description: Seconds until the window resets.
              schema:
                type: integer
        '409':
          description: >-
            Conflict (`https://help.skillsdb.com/api-docs/errors/conflict`) ·
            Idempotency key reused with different content
            (`https://help.skillsdb.com/api-docs/errors/idempotency-key-reused`)
          content:
            application/problem+json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/ProblemDetailsDto'
          headers:
            X-Request-Id:
              description: Unique id for this request — quote it when contacting support.
              schema:
                type: string
            RateLimit-Limit:
              description: The bucket's hourly allowance.
              schema:
                type: integer
            RateLimit-Remaining:
              description: Requests left in the current window.
              schema:
                type: integer
            RateLimit-Reset:
              description: Seconds until the window resets.
              schema:
                type: integer
        '429':
          description: >-
            Rate limit exceeded
            (`https://help.skillsdb.com/api-docs/errors/rate-limit-exceeded`)
          content:
            application/problem+json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/ProblemDetailsDto'
          headers:
            X-Request-Id:
              description: Unique id for this request — quote it when contacting support.
              schema:
                type: string
            RateLimit-Limit:
              description: The bucket's hourly allowance.
              schema:
                type: integer
            RateLimit-Remaining:
              description: Requests left in the current window.
              schema:
                type: integer
            RateLimit-Reset:
              description: Seconds until the window resets.
              schema:
                type: integer
            Retry-After:
              description: Seconds to wait before retrying.
              schema:
                type: integer
        '500':
          description: >-
            Internal error
            (`https://help.skillsdb.com/api-docs/errors/internal-error`)
          content:
            application/problem+json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/ProblemDetailsDto'
          headers:
            X-Request-Id:
              description: Unique id for this request — quote it when contacting support.
              schema:
                type: string
            RateLimit-Limit:
              description: The bucket's hourly allowance.
              schema:
                type: integer
            RateLimit-Remaining:
              description: Requests left in the current window.
              schema:
                type: integer
            RateLimit-Reset:
              description: Seconds until the window resets.
              schema:
                type: integer
      security:
        - apiKey:
            - skills:write
components:
  schemas:
    ProblemDetailsDto:
      type: object
      properties:
        type:
          type: string
          example: https://help.skillsdb.com/api-docs/errors/validation-error
          description: >-
            A URI identifying the problem type — always resolves to a
            documentation page.
        title:
          type: string
          example: Validation failed
        status:
          type: number
          example: 400
        detail:
          type: string
          example: limit must be between 1 and 200
          description: Human-readable explanation specific to this occurrence.
        instance:
          type: string
          example: /api/v1/people
        requestId:
          type: string
          example: 0192c2f1-6f4e-7ab3-b1c4-5f6a7b8c9d0e
          description: >-
            Matches the X-Request-Id response header — quote it when contacting
            support.
        errors:
          description: Field-level failures, present on validation-error problems.
          type: array
          items:
            $ref: '#/components/schemas/ProblemFieldErrorDto'
        error:
          type: string
          example: trial_expired
          enum:
            - trial_expired
          description: >-
            Present only on a 403 when the workspace's trial has expired, so API
            access is suspended.
        upgrade_url:
          type: string
          example: https://app.skillsdb.com/settings/billing
          description: >-
            Present only alongside `error: trial_expired`: where a workspace
            admin upgrades to restore API access.
      required:
        - type
        - title
        - status
        - detail
        - instance
        - requestId
    ProblemFieldErrorDto:
      type: object
      properties:
        field:
          type: string
          example: email
        code:
          type: string
          example: max_length
        message:
          type: string
          example: email must be shorter than or equal to 75 characters
      required:
        - field
        - code
        - message
  securitySchemes:
    apiKey:
      scheme: bearer
      type: http
      description: >-
        An API key issued by a company administrator — an environment prefix
        (production: `sdb_live_`) followed by 32 characters. The prefix
        identifies the environment and MUST NOT be hard-coded or validated by
        clients; treat the whole key as opaque. Shown exactly once at creation;
        only a one-way hash is stored.


        **Scopes** (granted per key on the create screen; `:write` never implies
        `:read`):


        - `skills:read`

        - `skills:write`

        - `people:read`

        - `people:write`

        - `careers:read`

        - `careers:write`

        - `training:read`

        - `training:write`

        - `flags:read`

        - `flags:write`

        - `org:read`

        - `org:write`

        - `assessments:read`

        - `learning:read`

        - `learning:write`

        - `certifications:read`

        - `certifications:write`

        - `assessments:write`

        - `proficiency:read`

        - `proficiency:write`

        - `surveys:read`

        - `surveys:write`

        - `labels:read`

        - `labels:write`

````