delete-identity

Permanently delete an identity using the Unkey CLI. Remove the entity and unlink all associated API keys for cleanup or compliance purposes.

Permanently delete an identity. This operation cannot be undone.

Use this for data cleanup, compliance requirements, or when removing entities from your system.

Important:

• Associated API keys remain functional but lose shared resources
• External ID becomes available for reuse immediately

Required permissions:

• identity.*.delete_identity (to delete identities in any workspace)

See the API reference for the full HTTP endpoint documentation.

Usage

unkey api identities delete-identity [flags]

Flags

--identity · string · required

The ID of the identity to delete. This can be either the external ID (from your own system that was used during identity creation) or the identity ID (the internal ID returned by the identity service).

Global Flags

Flag	Type	Description
--root-key	string	Override root key ($UNKEY_ROOT_KEY)
--api-url	string	Override API base URL (default: https://api.unkey.com)
--config	string	Path to config file (default: ~/.unkey/config.toml)
--output	string	Output format. Use json for raw JSON
--body	string	Send this JSON string as the request body. You cannot combine it with request-building flags.

Examples

Basic

unkey api identities delete-identity --identity=user_123

Output

Default output shows the request ID:

req_01H9TQPP77V5E48E9SH0BG0ZQX

With --output=json, the full response envelope is returned:

{
  "meta": {
    "requestId": "req_01H9TQPP77V5E48E9SH0BG0ZQX"
  }
}