# XDELEX

> Delete entries with reference control.

Use `XDELEX` to delete entries from a stream with control over what happens to consumer group references.

`IDS <numids>` introduces the list of IDs and the count must match. The policy decides how consumer groups are affected: `KEEPREF`, the default, deletes the entries but leaves them in the pending entries lists of the groups that had received them, `DELREF` removes those references as well, and `ACKED` only deletes entries that every group has read and acknowledged, leaving the others in place.

That last policy is what makes the command useful as a safe cleanup step: it removes exactly the entries nobody still owes work on. The reply holds one status code per requested ID, in the order they were given. Where [`XDEL`](/redis/commands/streams/xdel) always behaves like `KEEPREF`, `XDELEX` is its explicit form.

## Syntax

```redis
XDELEX <key>
  [KEEPREF | DELREF | ACKED]
  IDS <numids> <id> [<id> ...]
```

## Arguments

| Argument | Required | Repeatable | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `<key>` | Yes | No | Redis key targeted by the command. |
| `(KEEPREF \| DELREF \| ACKED)` | No | No | What happens to consumer-group references of the deleted entries: `KEEPREF` (the default) leaves them in place, `DELREF` removes them from every group's pending list, and `ACKED` only removes entries that every group has read and acknowledged. |
| `IDS <numids> <id> [<id> ...]` | Yes | No | Entry IDs to target. Give the ID count first, then that many IDs. |

## Response

The reply reports the result of the operation. Error replies have the same shape in RESP2 and RESP3 and are surfaced as exceptions by the SDKs below.

| Protocol | Reply |
| --- | --- |
| RESP2 | Array of integer status codes, one per ID |
| RESP3 | Array of integer status codes, one per ID |

### Status codes

| Code | Meaning |
| --- | --- |
| `1` | The entry was deleted. |
| `-1` | No entry with that ID exists in the stream. |
| `2` | The entry exists but was not deleted, because `ACKED` was requested and some group has not acknowledged it. |

The codes come back in the order the IDs were given. An ID listed more than once is processed once, and every occurrence of it carries the same code.

<Note>
  Client libraries often decode bulk strings, maps, sets, and numeric strings into language-native values. The table describes the Redis wire reply.
</Note>

## Examples

TCP examples use the TLS `REDIS_URL` from the Upstash console. REST examples use `UPSTASH_REDIS_REST_URL` and `UPSTASH_REDIS_REST_TOKEN`.

<AccordionGroup>

<Accordion title="Redis CLI" icon="terminal">

```bash
XDELEX my-key IDS 1 0-0
```

</Accordion>

<Accordion title="@upstash/redis" icon="node-js" iconType="brands">

```ts
import { Redis } from "@upstash/redis";

const redis = Redis.fromEnv();

// Delete a single stream entry
const result = await redis.xdelex("mystream", "1638360173533-0");
console.log(result); // Array of results for each ID
```

</Accordion>

<Accordion title="upstash_redis" icon="python" iconType="brands">

```python
from upstash_redis import Redis

redis = Redis.from_env()
result = redis.xdelex("my-key", "0-0")
print(result)
```

</Accordion>

<Accordion title="ioredis" icon="node-js" iconType="brands">

```ts
import Redis from "ioredis";

const redis = new Redis(process.env.REDIS_URL!);
const result = await redis.xdelex("my-key", "IDS", "1", "0-0");
console.log(result);
```

</Accordion>

<Accordion title="node-redis" icon="node-js" iconType="brands">

```ts
import { createClient } from "redis";

const client = await createClient({ url: process.env.REDIS_URL })
  .on("error", console.error)
  .connect();
const result = await client.xDelEx("my-key", "0-0");
console.log(result);
```

</Accordion>

<Accordion title="redis-py" icon="python" iconType="brands">

```python
import os
import redis

client = redis.from_url(os.environ["REDIS_URL"])
result = client.xdelex("my-key", "0-0")
print(result)
```

</Accordion>

<Accordion title="go-redis" icon="golang" iconType="brands">

```go
package main

import (
    "context"
    "fmt"
    "os"

    "github.com/redis/go-redis/v9"
)

func main() {
    opts, err := redis.ParseURL(os.Getenv("REDIS_URL"))
    if err != nil {
        panic(err)
    }
    client := redis.NewClient(opts)
    result, err := client.XDelEx(context.Background(), "my-key", "KEEPREF", "0-0").Result()
    if err != nil {
        panic(err)
    }
    fmt.Println(result)
}
```

</Accordion>

<Accordion title="jedis" icon="java" iconType="brands">

```java
import java.net.URI;

import redis.clients.jedis.Jedis;

try (Jedis jedis = new Jedis(new URI(System.getenv("REDIS_URL")))) {
  Object result = jedis.xdelex("my-key", new redis.clients.jedis.StreamEntryID("0-0"));
  System.out.println(result);
}
```

</Accordion>

<Accordion title="redis-rs" icon="rust" iconType="brands">

```rust
use redis::TypedCommands;

fn main() -> redis::RedisResult<()> {
    let url = std::env::var("REDIS_URL").expect("REDIS_URL is not set");
    let client = redis::Client::open(url)?;
    let mut connection = client.get_connection()?;

    let result = connection.xdel_ex("my-key", &["0-0"], redis::streams::StreamDeletionPolicy::KeepRef)?;
    println!("{result:?}");
    Ok(())
}
```

</Accordion>

</AccordionGroup>