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

# Delete Catalog

> Delete a catalog. Removes the catalog, its song membership (catalog_songs), its ownership links (account_catalogs) and its stored valuation history (catalog_valuations).

The measurement that produced the catalog is **not** deleted. A playcount snapshot is a metered capture that spent credits and cannot be reproduced for a past date, while a catalog is a label over songs that can be rebuilt from it in one call — so deleting a catalog only clears the snapshot's reference to it. The snapshot then reads as unclaimed, and [Create catalog](/api-reference/songs/catalogs-create) can re-materialize it under a correct name. The released snapshot IDs are returned so that recovery does not require hunting for them.

Use this for genuine duplicates. To fix a catalog's name, use [Rename catalog](/api-reference/songs/catalog-rename) instead — it keeps the catalog's measurements and valuation history intact.



## OpenAPI

````yaml api-reference/openapi/releases.json DELETE /api/catalogs/{catalogId}
openapi: 3.1.0
info:
  title: Recoup API - Releases
  description: >-
    API documentation for the Recoup platform - an AI agent platform for the
    music industry
  license:
    name: MIT
  version: 1.0.0
servers:
  - url: https://api.recoupable.dev
security: []
paths:
  /api/catalogs/{catalogId}:
    delete:
      description: >-
        Delete a catalog. Removes the catalog, its song membership
        (catalog_songs), its ownership links (account_catalogs) and its stored
        valuation history (catalog_valuations).


        The measurement that produced the catalog is **not** deleted. A
        playcount snapshot is a metered capture that spent credits and cannot be
        reproduced for a past date, while a catalog is a label over songs that
        can be rebuilt from it in one call — so deleting a catalog only clears
        the snapshot's reference to it. The snapshot then reads as unclaimed,
        and [Create catalog](/api-reference/songs/catalogs-create) can
        re-materialize it under a correct name. The released snapshot IDs are
        returned so that recovery does not require hunting for them.


        Use this for genuine duplicates. To fix a catalog's name, use [Rename
        catalog](/api-reference/songs/catalog-rename) instead — it keeps the
        catalog's measurements and valuation history intact.
      parameters:
        - name: catalogId
          in: path
          description: ID of the catalog to delete.
          required: true
          schema:
            type: string
            format: uuid
      responses:
        '200':
          description: Catalog deleted
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/DeleteCatalogResponse'
        '400':
          description: Bad request - catalogId is not a valid UUID
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/CatalogsErrorResponse'
        '401':
          description: Unauthorized - missing or invalid credentials
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/CatalogsErrorResponse'
        '404':
          description: >-
            Catalog not found - no catalog with this ID is visible to the
            caller. A catalog that exists but belongs to neither the
            authenticated account nor one of its organizations returns 404, not
            403: the same visibility rule the catalog read paths use, so a
            catalog you cannot see is indistinguishable from one that does not
            exist.
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/CatalogsErrorResponse'
        '500':
          description: Internal server error
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/CatalogsErrorResponse'
      security:
        - apiKeyAuth: []
        - bearerAuth: []
components:
  schemas:
    DeleteCatalogResponse:
      type: object
      description: Response returned after deleting a catalog
      required:
        - status
        - catalog_id
        - released_snapshot_ids
      properties:
        status:
          type: string
          enum:
            - success
          description: Status of the request
        catalog_id:
          type: string
          format: uuid
          description: ID of the deleted catalog
        released_snapshot_ids:
          type: array
          description: >-
            IDs of the playcount snapshots that pointed at this catalog. Those
            snapshots still exist - only their catalog reference was cleared -
            so each can be re-materialized into a new, correctly named catalog
            with Create catalog. Empty when the catalog was not created from a
            measurement run.
          items:
            type: string
            format: uuid
    CatalogsErrorResponse:
      type: object
      properties:
        status:
          type: string
          enum:
            - error
          description: Status of the request
        error:
          type: string
          description: Error message describing what went wrong
  securitySchemes:
    apiKeyAuth:
      type: apiKey
      in: header
      name: x-api-key
      description: Your Recoup API key. [Learn more](/quickstart#api-keys).
    bearerAuth:
      type: http
      scheme: bearer

````