DELETE/v1/custom-fields/{custom_field_id}beta

Delete a custom field

Needs: Create and edit contacts, tags, contact groups and custom fields (crm:write)
Plan: Any plan with API access
Limits: 60 a minute per key
Dry run: Yes — every check runs with ?dry_run=true, nothing changes
Confirm: Header Api-Confirm: delete
Undo: Cannot be undone. The stored values are not given back if you create the field again.

Deletes one custom field. Every contact loses its value for this field: it disappears from contacts, filters and imports, and chatbots or messages that use the field as a variable get an empty value.

Try it with ?dry_run=true first: the field is looked up, nothing is deleted. in_use: true in the answer means something still used it.

Try it

Path

custom_field_idrequired

The custom field id.

Idempotency-Keyoptional — made for you if empty

Protects against doing it twice if you retry: a retry with the same key gets the first answer back instead of running again.

Test mode (dry run): nothing will change

Run liveTurns test mode off for this page only. It switches back when you leave the page.

curl -X DELETE 'https://mcp.wa-api.cloud/v1/custom-fields/32?dry_run=true' \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $API_KEY" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: $(uuidgen)"

The code reads your key from $API_KEY.

Parameters

Parameters
Field	Type	What it is
custom_field_idrequired	string \| integer · path	The custom field id.pattern `^[1-9]\d{0,18}$`

Headers

Headers
Field	Type	What it is
Authorizationrequired	header	`Bearer $API_KEY` — your API key.
Api-Version	header	The API version to use, e.g. `2026-10-01`. Default: the version your key is pinned to.one of: `2026-10-01` · pattern `^\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2}$`
Idempotency-Key	header	Any unique string (8–128 characters). A retry with the same key returns the first answer instead of running twice. Kept 24 hours.pattern `^[A-Za-z0-9._:-]+$` · 8–128 characters
Api-Confirmrequired	header	Type the operation's verb (e.g. `delete`, `submit`) to confirm a change that cannot be undone or that WhatsApp or your customers see. Not needed with `dry_run=true`.

Response `200`

Deleted.

Response fields
Field	Type	What it is
idrequired	string
keyrequired	string
labelrequired	string or null
in_userequired	boolean or null
deletedrequired	boolean
dry_run	boolean	`true` when this was a dry run: every check ran and nothing changed.

Errors

Errors are application/problem+json. Branch on code.

Status	Code	When
400	invalid_input	A field is missing or has the wrong format. `errors[]` points at each field.
401	unauthenticated	The Authorization header is missing, the key is unknown, expired or revoked.
403	entitlement_required	The workspace's plan does not include API access (`api_access`).
403	insufficient_scope	The key does not have the permission this operation needs.
404	not_found	No custom field with this id in your workspace.
409	conflict	Also returned while a request with the same Idempotency-Key is still running.
428	confirm_required	Send the header `Api-Confirm: delete` to confirm. Not needed with `dry_run=true`.
429	rate_limited	The key or workspace went over its rate limit. Wait for `Retry-After` seconds.
503	upstream_unavailable	A service behind the API is briefly unavailable. Safe to retry with backoff.
504	timeout	The change did not finish in time. Retry with the same Idempotency-Key: it never runs twice.

Examples

Delete a field you no longer use

Response 200

{
  "id": "32",
  "key": "loyalty_tier",
  "label": "Loyalty tier",
  "in_use": false,
  "deleted": true
}

Operation path

The same operation is also at POST /v1/ops/crm_delete_custom_field, with every field in the JSON body.