# Delete a router branch

Removes one branch from a router step and deletes the steps that belonged to it.

- Endpoint: `DELETE https://api.returning.ai/v1/workflow-builder/data-workflows/{workflowId}/nodes/{nodeId}/branches/{branchIndex}`
- Section: Workflow Builder / Router branches
- Authentication: `Authorization: Bearer <API_KEY>` (Community API key)
- Permission: `workflowBuilder`
- Retries: A second delete of the same index deletes a *different* branch if the list shifted, because the index is positional.
- Guide: generated from the published specification
- Last updated: 28 Oct 2026
- Web page: https://docs.returning.ai/api-reference/workflow-builder/delete-a-router-branch

## Authentication

- Header: `Authorization: Bearer <API_KEY>`
- Permission: `workflowBuilder`

`Authorization: Bearer <API_KEY>` with `workflowBuilder`, on a workflow of the key's community. `If-Match` is optional. Send the `revision` you read to avoid overwriting a concurrent change (a stale value is refused with `409 VERSION_CONFLICT`); omit it and your write wins as the last one. A deployed workflow is edited with the same call: the change applies immediately.

Branch indexes shift after a delete, so read the router before deleting to be sure which branch you are removing.

| Failure | Meaning | Recovery |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `400 VALIDATION_FAILED` | The delete would leave the router with no branches | Add the replacement branch first. |
| `404 BRANCH_NOT_FOUND` | No branch at that index | Read the router and use an existing index. |

## Behaviour

The remaining branches keep their relative order, and the router's branch list is rewritten without the branch you removed.

A router must keep at least one branch, so deleting the last one is refused.

## Request

### Path parameters

| Name | Type | Required | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `workflowId` | `string` | Yes | Workflow identifier: 24 hexadecimal characters, as returned in `_id`. (`^[0-9a-fA-F]{24}$`) |
| `nodeId` | `string` | Yes | Step identifier: 24 hexadecimal characters, as returned in the step's `_id`. (`^[0-9a-fA-F]{24}$`) |
| `branchIndex` | `integer` | Yes | Zero-based index of the branch inside the router step, in stored order. (Min 0) |

### Headers

| Name | Type | Required | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `Authorization` | `string` | Yes | Community API key: `Bearer <API_KEY>`. |
| `If-Match` | `string` | No | Optional. Send the `revision` the change is based on, bare or quoted, to avoid overwriting a concurrent change: a stale value is refused with `409 VERSION_CONFLICT`. Omit it for last-write-wins. |

### Watch for

- The step ids of the deleted branch are gone. Any reference to them becomes unresolved, and `POST /{workflowId}/validate` reports it as a warning. Deploy still proceeds, so fix the references before the next run.
- Branch indexes shift after the delete. Never reuse an index from before the call.
- Deleting a branch is irreversible. Export the workflow first if the branch is worth recovering.
- A fallback branch is just another branch here: deleting it leaves only condition branches, which is valid.

### Example request

```bash
curl --request DELETE \
  --url 'https://api.returning.ai/v1/workflow-builder/data-workflows/<workflowId>/nodes/<nodeId>/branches/<branchIndex>' \
  --header 'Authorization: Bearer <API_KEY>'
```

### More examples

```bash
curl --request DELETE \
  --url "https://api.returning.ai/v1/workflow-builder/data-workflows/65f1a2b3c4d5e6f708192a3b/nodes/65f1a2b3c4d5e6f708192a3e/branches/1" \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer <API_KEY>" \
  --header "If-Match: 162af81f5de4ff2b557a4087de9a9a73a0ed4e621f737787e35a93614cb50d1c"
```

```json
{
  "data": {
    "node": {
      "_id": "65f1a2b3c4d5e6f708192a3e",
      "name": "XP over 100?",
      "type": "router",
      "order": 2,
      "continueOnFailure": false,
      "retryOnFailure": false,
      "options": {
        "executePaths": "first_matching",
        "branches": [
          { "branchName": "XP > 100", "branchType": "CONDITION", "workflowNodeIds": ["65f1a2b3c4d5e6f708192a3d"] }
        ]
      }
    },
    "revision": "68f78253046393414dec404e5442c140bb5db0393a7d1c389ff57bba71585501",
    "redactedPaths": []
  }
}
```

## Response

HTTP `200` with the router step and the workflow's new revision. The response is the readback: `options.branches` no longer contains the deleted branch, and the surviving branches are in their stored order.

The steps of the deleted branch are gone from the workflow. Read `GET /{workflowId}` to confirm they are absent from `nodes`, and run `POST /{workflowId}/validate` in case another step referenced one of them.

### Response fields

| Field | Type | Presence | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `data` | `object` | - | One step with the workflow revision it left behind. |
| `data.node` | `object` | - | A step as returned by the API. |
| `data.node._id` | `string` | - | Step identifier. |
| `data.node.name` | `string` | - | Step name. |
| `data.node.type` | `string` | - | Step type. |
| `data.node.order` | `integer` | - | Position on the main line, from 1. |
| `data.node.continueOnFailure` | `boolean` | - | Whether a failure stops the run. |
| `data.node.retryOnFailure` | `boolean` | - | Whether the step is retried on failure. |
| `data.node.options` | `object` | - | Stored step options, with every credential replaced by `["__REDACTED__"]`. (Nullable) |
| `data.node.status` | `string` | - | Last run state of the step, when one exists. |
| `data.node.nestedNodes` | `object[]` | - | Present on a router: each branch carries its own `workflowNodeIds` and `nestedNodes`. |
| `data.revision` | `string` | - | Revision after the write. |
| `data.redactedPaths` | `string[]` | - | Credential locations replaced in this response. |

### Example response (200)

```json
{
  "data": {
    "node": {
      "_id": "65f1a2b3c4d5e6f708192a3c",
      "name": "XP over 100?",
      "type": "router",
      "order": 1,
      "continueOnFailure": false,
      "retryOnFailure": false,
      "options": {
        "executePaths": "first_matching",
        "branches": [
          {
            "branchName": "Otherwise",
            "branchType": "FALLBACK",
            "workflowNodeIds": []
          }
        ]
      }
    },
    "revision": "68f78253046393414dec404e5442c140bb5db0393a7d1c389ff57bba71585501",
    "redactedPaths": []
  }
}
```

## Errors

### Fix the request

| Status | Code | What to do |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 400 | `VALIDATION_FAILED` | The router would be left with no branches. Add the replacement branch, then delete. |
| 401 | `AUTHENTICATION_REQUIRED` | No key, or an unknown key. Send a valid key. |
| 401 | `API_KEY_REQUIRED` | A valid admin session was used, because this API accepts community API keys only. Use a community API key. |
| 403 | `API_KEY_PERMISSION_DENIED` | No `workflowBuilder`. Grant the permission. |

### Fix the data

| Status | Code | What to do |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 404 | `NODE_NOT_FOUND` | The step is not part of this workflow. Read the workflow for its step ids. |
| 404 | `BRANCH_NOT_FOUND` | No branch at that index. Read the router and use an existing index. |
| 409 | `VERSION_CONFLICT` | You sent an `If-Match` that is not the current revision. `meta.currentRevision` carries the live value. Re-read and resend. |
| 409 | `WORKFLOW_LOCKED` | Another write to this workflow held the lock for too long, and this write was not applied. Re-read and retry. |

### Retry with backoff

| Status | Code | What to do |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 429 | `RATE_LIMITED` | The community's API rate limit was reached. Wait for the window to reset, then retry. |
| 500 | `INTERNAL_ERROR` | Unexpected failure. Re-read the router: the branch may already be gone. |
| 503 | `LOCK_UNAVAILABLE` | The write lock store did not answer, so nothing was written. Retry shortly. |

**Retries:** A second delete of the same index deletes a *different* branch if the list shifted, because the index is positional. Read the router before retrying, and send the revision you just read.

## Next step

- [Duplicate a router branch](https://docs.returning.ai/api-reference/workflow-builder/duplicate-a-router-branch.md): `POST /v1/workflow-builder/data-workflows/{workflowId}/nodes/{nodeId}/branches/{branchIndex}/duplicate`.