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Endpoint

DELETE /articles/{id}
This endpoint requires authentication with a valid JWT token AND Admin role.

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Description

Deletes a specific article by ID, including all associated images. The article is soft-deleted, meaning it’s marked as deleted but remains in the database for potential recovery. The endpoint:
  • Validates that the article exists
  • Deletes all associated images from storage and database
  • Soft-deletes the article record
  • Uses database transactions to ensure atomicity
This endpoint performs a soft delete. The article is marked as deleted but can be recovered by database administrators if needed. All image files are permanently deleted from storage.

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Authentication

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Authorization
string
required
Bearer token for authentication. Format: Bearer YOUR_JWT_TOKEN
User must have the Admin role. Regular users will receive a 403 Forbidden response.

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Headers

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Accept-Language
string
default:"en"
Language preference for response messages. Supported values: en, es
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Accept
string
default:"application/json"
Response content type

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Path Parameters

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id
integer
required
The unique ID of the article to delete

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Response

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Success Response (200 OK)

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success
boolean
required
Always true for successful deletions
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message
string
required
Success message indicating the article was deleted
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data
null
No data is returned for delete operations

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Example Request

curl -X DELETE https://api.example.com/articles/1 \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_JWT_TOKEN" \
  -H "Accept: application/json" \
  -H "Accept-Language: en"

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Example Response

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Success (200 OK)

{
  "success": true,
  "message": "Article deleted successfully",
  "data": null
}

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Error Responses

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401 - Unauthorized

Returned when no authentication token is provided or the token is invalid. 
{
  "success": false,
  "message": "Unauthenticated",
  "errors": null
}

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403 - Forbidden (Not Admin)

Returned when the authenticated user doesn’t have the Admin role. 
{
  "success": false,
  "message": "Forbidden. Admin role required",
  "errors": null
}

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400 - Bad Request (Article Not Found)

Returned when trying to delete an article that doesn’t exist or has already been deleted. 
{
  "success": false,
  "message": "Article not found",
  "errors": null
}

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500 - Internal Server Error

Returned when the deletion fails due to a server error (e.g., database transaction failure, file system error). 
{
  "success": false,
  "message": "Article deletion failed",
  "errors": {
    "exception": "Unable to delete image files from storage"
  }
}

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Deletion Process

The deletion follows this sequence:
  1. Validation: Check if the article exists
  2. Transaction Start: Begin database transaction
  3. Image Deletion:
    • Delete all image files from storage
    • Remove all image records from database
  4. Article Deletion: Soft-delete the article record
  5. Transaction Commit: Commit if all steps succeed
  6. Rollback: If any step fails, all changes are rolled back

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Implementation Notes

  • Uses the SoftDeletes trait - articles are not permanently removed from the database
  • The deleted_at timestamp is set when the article is deleted
  • All associated images are permanently deleted from file storage
  • All image database records are permanently deleted
  • Uses database transactions to ensure atomicity (all or nothing)
  • Laravel’s route model binding handles non-existent IDs
  • If any part of the deletion fails, the entire operation is rolled back
Image Files are Permanently Deleted: While the article record can be recovered (soft delete), associated image files are permanently removed from storage and cannot be recovered.

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Recovery

Since this is a soft delete, database administrators can recover deleted articles by updating the deleted_at column: 
-- Recover a soft-deleted article
UPDATE articles SET deleted_at = NULL WHERE id = 1;
Image files cannot be recovered after deletion. Only the article metadata can be restored.
Source Code Reference: ArticleController::destroy() at /home/daytona/workspace/source/app/Http/Controllers/ArticleController.php:297

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