lore delete

Delete a document from the corpus.

Synopsis

lore delete <filename> [flags]

What Does This Do?

Removes a documentation file from .lore/docs/. Lore prompts for confirmation before deleting.

Analogy: Tearing a page out of your project journal. Lore makes sure you really want to, because once it's gone, the "why" is lost.

Real World Scenario

You refactored the auth system completely. The old document "session-based-auth-2026-01.md" is now misleading — it describes an approach you abandoned. Time to clean up:

lore delete session-based-auth-2026-01.md

Lore warns you that another document references it, asks for confirmation. You delete and run lore doctor to clean up.

Arguments

Argument	Required	Description
filename	Yes	The exact filename (e.g., decision-auth-strategy-2026-03-07.md)

How to find the filename: Run lore list to see all documents with their slugs/filenames.

Flags

Flag	Type	Default	Description
--force	bool	false	Delete without asking (for scripts)

What Happens

Interactive (Default)

lore delete decision-auth-strategy-2026-03-07.md

  decision — Switch to PostgreSQL (2026-03-07)
  ⚠ Referenced by: feature-add-user-model-2026-03-08.md

  Delete this document? [y/N] y
  ✓ Deleted

Lore shows you: 1. What you're deleting — type, title, date 2. References — other docs that mention this one (so you know what might break) 3. Confirmation — you must type y to proceed

Force Mode (Scripts/CI)

lore delete decision-auth-strategy-2026-03-07.md --force
# → Deleted immediately, no questions asked

Safety Rules

Scenario	Behavior
Normal (TTY)	Asks for confirmation
Pipe/Non-TTY (without --force)	Error — won't auto-delete in scripts
Demo documents	No confirmation needed (they're just demos)
File not found	Friendly error with suggestion

Tips & Tricks

• Prefer archiving over deleting: Edit the file and set status: archived. This preserves the historical record.
• Bulk cleanup: lore list --type note --quiet | xargs -I{} lore delete {} --force (careful!).
• After deleting: Run lore doctor to check for broken references.

Exit Codes

Code	Meaning
0	Deleted successfully
1	Error (not found, non-TTY without --force)

Examples

# Find the filename first
lore list
# → decision  database-selection-2026-02-10.md  2026-02-10

# Delete with confirmation
lore delete database-selection-2026-02-10.md
# → decision — Database Selection (2026-02-10)
# → Delete? [y/N] y
# → Deleted

# Force delete in scripts
lore delete old-doc-2025-01-01.md --force

Common Questions

"Should I delete or archive?"

Prefer archiving. Change status: active to status: archived in the document. This preserves the historical record. Delete only when the document is actively misleading or harmful.

"I deleted a document but another doc references it"

Run lore doctor — it will flag the broken reference. You can then edit the referencing document to remove or update the link.

"Can I undo a delete?"

If you have not committed yet: git checkout -- .lore/docs/filename.md. If you have committed: git show HEAD~1:.lore/docs/filename.md > .lore/docs/filename.md. Documents are plain files — Git is your undo button.

See Also

• lore list — Find the filename to delete
• lore doctor — Check for broken references after deletion