> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://mintlify.com/Arvo-AI/aurora/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Delete Incident

> Information about incident deletion in Aurora

## Incident Deletion

Aurora does **not provide a DELETE endpoint** for incidents. Incidents are permanent records that cannot be deleted through the API.

### Why Incidents Cannot Be Deleted

Incidents serve as a critical audit trail and historical record for:

1. **Compliance and Auditing** - Organizations often need to maintain incident records for compliance requirements
2. **Root Cause Analysis** - Historical incidents help identify patterns and recurring issues
3. **Postmortem Generation** - Resolved incidents can generate postmortem documents for knowledge sharing
4. **Learning and Improvement** - Past incidents inform future incident response strategies

### Alternative Approaches

#### 1. Resolve Incidents

Instead of deleting, mark incidents as resolved:

```bash cURL theme={null}
curl -X PATCH "https://api.aurora.example.com/api/incidents/{incident_id}" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Cookie: session_token=YOUR_SESSION_TOKEN" \
  -d '{
    "status": "resolved"
  }'
```

Resolved incidents:

* Are moved out of active incident views
* Trigger automatic postmortem generation
* Remain searchable in historical records

#### 2. Merge Duplicate Incidents

If you have duplicate incidents, merge them into a single incident:

```bash cURL theme={null}
curl -X POST "https://api.aurora.example.com/api/incidents/{target_incident_id}/merge-alert" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Cookie: session_token=YOUR_SESSION_TOKEN" \
  -d '{
    "sourceIncidentId": "{source_incident_id}"
  }'
```

Merged incidents:

* Are marked with status `merged`
* Reference the target incident via `merged_into_incident_id`
* Are excluded from the default incident list
* Preserve their data for historical reference

#### 3. Filter Incidents in List View

The incidents list endpoint automatically excludes merged incidents:

```bash cURL theme={null}
curl -X GET "https://api.aurora.example.com/api/incidents" \
  -H "Cookie: session_token=YOUR_SESSION_TOKEN"
```

The response only includes incidents with status other than `merged`.

### Database Constraints

Incidents have the following cascade deletion relationships:

```sql theme={null}
-- Child tables that CASCADE DELETE when an incident is deleted:
- incident_alerts (correlated alerts)
- incident_suggestions (suggested actions)
- incident_thoughts (investigation thoughts)
- incident_citations (command executions)
- incident_feedback (user feedback)
- postmortems (generated postmortem documents)
```

If incidents could be deleted via API, all related data would be permanently lost.

### Direct Database Access

<Warning>
  Direct database deletion is **strongly discouraged** and should only be performed by database administrators in exceptional circumstances with proper backups.
</Warning>

If you absolutely must delete an incident at the database level:

```sql theme={null}
-- This will CASCADE delete all related data
DELETE FROM incidents WHERE id = 'incident-uuid';
```

This operation:

* Requires direct database access (not available through the API)
* Permanently deletes all related suggestions, thoughts, citations, alerts, and postmortems
* Cannot be undone
* May violate compliance requirements
* Should only be done with explicit approval and backups

### Incident Lifecycle States

Instead of deletion, incidents transition through these states:

1. **investigating** - Initial state when incident is created
2. **analyzed** - Aurora has completed its RCA analysis
3. **resolved** - Incident has been resolved (generates postmortem)
4. **merged** - Incident was merged into another incident

All states preserve the incident record for historical purposes.

### Related Endpoints

* [Update Incident](/api/incidents/update) - Mark incident as resolved or merge with other incidents
* [List Incidents](/api/incidents/list) - View active incidents (auto-filters merged)

### Data Retention Policy

Refer to your organization's data retention policies for guidance on how long incident records should be maintained. Aurora does not implement automatic data expiration for incidents.