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Deleting a conversation

Deleting a conversation in Intercom

Written by Adisa Narula
Updated yesterday

How do you delete a conversation?

Conversation deletion can only be executed via the DELETE conversations/:id API endpoint. Two modes of deletion are supported when deleting a conversation.

Note: Both modes remove sensitive conversations data and are irreversible operations. You can expect a delay between when a conversation is deleted and when that deletion is reflected in reporting data.

Deletion with metrics retained

DELETE conversations/{id}?retain_metrics=true

Calling the conversation delete endpoint permanently removes the conversation from the Inbox while retaining its reporting metrics. This is the default behaviour if the retain_metrics parameter is not specified.

Once deleted, the conversation will no longer appear in the Inbox. However, it will remain available in reporting. In reports, the conversation will be marked as deleted, but its metrics will still be included in reporting totals.

Note: Conversation data attributes (CvDAs) are permanently deleted and removed from reporting, as they may contain sensitive information.

If you would like to retain conversation data attributes in reporting for deleted conversations, please contact our support team.

Deletion with metrics removed

DELETE conversations/{id}?retain_metrics=false

If you wish to remove a conversation and all of its associated data from reporting, make sure to specify retain_metrics: false in the request body.

Note: Deleting conversation along with reporting data requires the delete_conversations_and_metrics OAuth scope and is currently available only in the Unstable version of the API.


Important notes

Side conversations

Side conversations are tied to the main conversation and cannot be deleted independently. To remove a side conversation, delete the parent conversation instead. When a parent conversation is deleted, any associated side conversations will be deleted automatically.

Back-office tickets linked to a conversation

Back-office tickets with a linked conversation cannot be deleted independently. To remove it, delete the conversation linked to the back-office ticket. When the main conversation is deleted, any associated back-office tickets will be deleted automatically.


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