A Delete API allows clients to remove an existing resource from the database. In RESTful design, this corresponds to the DELETE HTTP method.

In this guide, you’ll learn how to build a DELETE /books/<id>/ endpoint to delete a book using Django REST Framework.

What is a Delete API?

A Delete API enables the removal of a specific object by its identifier (commonly the primary key).

Example:

DELETE /books/1/

Response:

204 No Content

The 204 status code indicates the resource was deleted successfully and there’s no additional content to return.

Step-by-Step: Build a Delete API

Let’s walk through building a Delete endpoint using DestroyAPIView provided by DRF.

1. Ensure You Have the Book Model

# books/models.py
from django.db import models

class Book(models.Model):
    title = models.CharField(max_length=100)
    author = models.CharField(max_length=100)

    def __str__(self):
        return self.title

Run migrations if you haven't:

python manage.py makemigrations
python manage.py migrate

2. Create the Serializer (for completeness)

# books/serializers.py
from rest_framework import serializers
from .models import Book

class BookSerializer(serializers.ModelSerializer):
    class Meta:
        model = Book
        fields = '__all__'

3. Create the DeleteAPIView

# books/views.py
from rest_framework.generics import DestroyAPIView
from .models import Book
from .serializers import BookSerializer

class BookDeleteView(DestroyAPIView):
    queryset = Book.objects.all()
    serializer_class = BookSerializer

✅ DestroyAPIView handles the DELETE method and removes an object by its primary key.

4. Add the URL Route

# books/urls.py
from django.urls import path
from .views import BookDeleteView

urlpatterns = [
    path('books/<int:pk>/delete/', BookDeleteView.as_view(), name='book-delete'),
]

Include the app routes in your main project:

# myapi/urls.py
from django.urls import path, include

urlpatterns = [
    path('api/', include('books.urls')),
]

✅ Testing the Delete API

Start the server:

python manage.py runserver

Use Postman, curl, or DRF’s web interface:

DELETE Request:

DELETE http://127.0.0.1:8000/api/books/1/delete/

Response:

204 No Content

If the object with ID 1 exists, it will be deleted. If not:

{
  "detail": "Not found."
}

Summary

⚠️ Common Pitfalls

Tips

• Use Django Admin to create test entries.

• Protect delete operations with authentication and permissions.

• Never allow delete operations in production without strict access control.

What's Next?

You now have a fully functional Delete API. Here’s where you can go from here:

• ✅ Combine all CRUD operations in a ModelViewSet

• Add authentication and permissions for safe access

• Use routers for clean URL configuration

• Add unit tests for your API endpoints