> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://helix-isolate-failing-index-entities.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# helix delete

> Remove an instance from helix.toml and clean up its local state

<div className="flex flex-wrap gap-2"><Badge color="gray" size="sm">Reference</Badge></div>

Delete an instance from `helix.toml` and clean up any local runtime state for it. Works for local
instances and Helix Cloud links; a Cloud database itself is never deleted.

## Usage

```bash theme={null}
helix delete <INSTANCE> [OPTIONS]
```

## Arguments

| Argument | Description |
| - | - |
| `INSTANCE` | Instance to delete. Required. |

## Options

| Flag | Description | Default |
| - | - | - |
| `-y`, `--yes` | Skip confirmation prompts. Required in non-TTY environments. | Off |

## Behavior

* For local instances, Helix-owned containers, networks, disk-mode and disk-cache volumes, and the per-instance directory under `.helix/` are deleted.
* For Helix Cloud instances, only the `[enterprise.<name>]` block in `helix.toml` is removed — the database itself is untouched.
* Remote S3 object-store data is not deleted.
* The CLI refuses to delete the last instance in `helix.toml`; add a replacement first.
* In a TTY, `helix delete` prints a warning and asks for confirmation. Without a TTY, or with `--json`, it refuses to run without `--yes`:

  ```text theme={null}
  refusing to delete '<instance>' without confirmation
  ```

## Examples

```bash theme={null}
# Delete a local instance (TTY)
helix delete staging

# Delete non-interactively
helix delete staging --yes
```

## Related

* [`helix prune`](/cli/command-reference/prune) — clean up local state but keep the instance in `helix.toml`.
* [`helix add`](/cli/command-reference/add) — add a replacement instance.
* [CLI configuration](/cli/configuration) — the `helix.toml` format.


This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.