Delete a document from a Grok collection

Removing one document from a collection uses the Management API (https://management-api.x.ai/v1) with a Management API key that has Collections permissions. The regular XAI_API_KEY is for search and chat, not for this delete. Create / upload path: Create a collection and upload documents via API.

Delete one document

You need the collection_id and the document file_id (returned on upload or from a document list / get).

curl https://management-api.x.ai/v1/collections/$COLLECTION_ID/documents/$FILE_ID \
  -X DELETE \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $XAI_MANAGEMENT_API_KEY"

import os
from xai_sdk import Client

client = Client(
    api_key=os.getenv("XAI_API_KEY"),
    management_api_key=os.getenv("XAI_MANAGEMENT_API_KEY"),
)
client.collections.remove_document(
    collection_id="collection_dbc087b1-6c99-493d-86c6-b401fee34a9d",
    file_id="file_55a709d4-8edc-4f83-84d9-9f04fe49f832",
)

const collectionId = "collection_dbc087b1-6c99-493d-86c6-b401fee34a9d";
const fileId = "file_55a709d4-8edc-4f83-84d9-9f04fe49f832";
await fetch(
  `https://management-api.x.ai/v1/collections/${collectionId}/documents/${fileId}`,
  {
    method: "DELETE",
    headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.XAI_MANAGEMENT_API_KEY}` },
  },
);

Deleting a document removes it from that collection’s index. Search with file_search / collections_search will stop returning chunks from that file after processing catches up.

Delete the whole collection

curl https://management-api.x.ai/v1/collections/$COLLECTION_ID \
  -X DELETE \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $XAI_MANAGEMENT_API_KEY"

That removes the collection itself. Prefer document delete when you only need to drop one file.

Pitfalls

• Using XAI_API_KEY on management-api.x.ai — management calls need the Management key.
• Confusing Files API delete (global file object) with collection document remove (membership + index). Use the collections documents DELETE path above when the goal is “out of this collection.”