# delete

The .delete() method for the SurrealDB Rust SDK deletes all or specific records from the database.

**3.x**

Deletes all records in a table, or a specific record, from the database.

```rust title="Method Syntax"
db.delete(resource)
```

## Arguments
<table>
    <thead>
        <tr>
            <th colspan="2" scope="col">Argument</th>
            <th colspan="2" scope="col">Description</th>
        </tr>
    </thead>
    <tbody>
        <tr>
            <td colspan="2" scope="row" data-label="Argument">
                <code>resource</code>
            </td>
            <td colspan="2" scope="row" data-label="Description">
                The table name or a record ID to select. Will also accept a tuple of record name and ID.
            </td>
        </tr>
    </tbody>
</table>

## Example usage

```rust
use surrealdb::engine::any::connect;
use surrealdb::opt::auth::Root;
use surrealdb::opt::Resource;
use surrealdb::types::{RecordId, SurrealValue};

#[derive(Debug, SurrealValue)]
struct Person {
    id: RecordId,
}

#[tokio::main]
async fn main() -> surrealdb::Result<()> {
    let db = connect("ws://localhost:8000").await?;
    db.signin(Root {
        username: "root".to_string(),
        password: "secret".to_string(),
    })
    .await?;
    db.use_ns("ns").use_db("db").await?;

    // Create three `person` records
    db.create(Resource::from(("person", "one"))).await?;
    db.create(Resource::from(("person", "two"))).await?;
    db.create(Resource::from(("person", "three"))).await?;

        let deleted_one: Option<Person> = db.delete(("person",
        "one")).await?;
    dbg!(deleted_one);
    let deleted_rest: Vec<Person> = db.delete("person").await?;
    dbg!(deleted_rest);
    Ok(())
}
```

## Restrict records with `.range()`

For deletes targeting every record in a table, chain [`.range(...)`](https://docs.rs/surrealdb/latest/surrealdb/method/struct.Delete.html#method.range-1) so only record IDs inside the [`RecordIdKeyRange`](https://docs.rs/surrealdb/latest/surrealdb/types/struct.RecordIdKeyRange.html) are removed.

```rust
use surrealdb::{
    engine::any::connect,
    opt::Resource,
    types::{ToSql, Value},
};

#[tokio::main]
async fn main() {
    let db = connect("memory").await.unwrap();
    db.use_ns("ns").use_db("db").await.unwrap();

    db.query("CREATE person:alucard, person:plato, person:vlad")
        .await
        .unwrap();

    let res = db
        .delete::<Value>(Resource::from("person"))
        .range("n"..="z")
        .await
        .unwrap()
        .to_sql();
    println!("{res:?}");
}
```

**2.x**

Deletes all records in a table, or a specific record, from the database.

```rust title="Method Syntax"
db.delete(resource)
```

## Arguments
<table>
    <thead>
        <tr>
            <th colspan="2" scope="col">Argument</th>
            <th colspan="2" scope="col">Description</th>
        </tr>
    </thead>
    <tbody>
        <tr>
            <td colspan="2" scope="row" data-label="Argument">
                <code>resource</code>
            </td>
            <td colspan="2" scope="row" data-label="Description">
                The table name or a record ID to select. Will also accept a tuple of record name and ID.
            </td>
        </tr>
    </tbody>
</table>

## Example usage

```rust
use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
use surrealdb::engine::any::connect;
use surrealdb::opt::auth::Root;
use surrealdb::opt::Resource;
use surrealdb::RecordId;

#[derive(Debug, Serialize, Deserialize)]
struct Person {
    id: RecordId,
}

#[tokio::main]
async fn main() -> surrealdb::Result<()> {
    let db = connect("ws://localhost:8000").await?;
    db.signin(Root {
        username: "root",
        password: "secret",
    })
    .await?;
    db.use_ns("ns").use_db("db").await?;

    // Create three `person` records
    db.create(Resource::from(("person", "one"))).await?;
    db.create(Resource::from(("person", "two"))).await?;
    db.create(Resource::from(("person", "three"))).await?;

        let deleted_one: Option<Person> = db.delete(("person",
        "one")).await?;
    dbg!(deleted_one);
    let deleted_rest: Vec<Person> = db.delete("person").await?;
    dbg!(deleted_rest);
    Ok(())
}
```

## Translated query

While SurrealQL's `DELETE` statement returns an empty array by default, this function translates into a query that adds a `RETURN BEFORE` clause to return the deleted items.

```surql
DELETE FROM $resource RETURN BEFORE;
```

## See also

* [.delete() method on Docs.rs](https://docs.rs/surrealdb/latest/surrealdb/struct.Surreal.html#method.delete)