Overview
Deletes a fine-tuned model. You must have the Owner role in your organization to delete a model.
This action is permanent and cannot be undone. The model will be immediately removed and can no longer be used for inference.
Method
client.models.delete(model="ft:gpt-3.5-turbo:org-id:model-name:id")
Parameters
The ID of the fine-tuned model to delete. Must be a model you own.Only fine-tuned models can be deleted. Base OpenAI models (like gpt-4 or gpt-3.5-turbo) cannot be deleted.
Send extra headers with the request
Add additional query parameters to the request
Override the client-level default timeout for this request, in seconds
Response
Returns a ModelDeleted object confirming the deletion.
The ID of the deleted model
Confirmation that the model was deleted (always true on success)
The object type (typically “model”)
Examples
Delete a Fine-Tuned Model
from openai import OpenAI
client = OpenAI()
# Delete a fine-tuned model
response = client.models.delete(
model="ft:gpt-3.5-turbo:my-org:custom-model:id"
)
if response.deleted:
print(f"Successfully deleted model: {response.id}")
Safe Deletion with Confirmation
def delete_model_safely(model_id: str):
try:
# First, verify the model exists
model = client.models.retrieve(model_id)
# Confirm it's a fine-tuned model
if not model_id.startswith('ft:'):
print("Can only delete fine-tuned models")
return False
# Delete the model
response = client.models.delete(model_id)
return response.deleted
except Exception as e:
print(f"Error deleting model: {e}")
return False
deleted = delete_model_safely("ft:gpt-3.5-turbo:org:model:id")
if deleted:
print("Model deleted successfully")
List and Delete Old Models
from datetime import datetime, timedelta
# Get all models
models = client.models.list()
# Find fine-tuned models older than 90 days
threshold = datetime.now().timestamp() - (90 * 24 * 60 * 60)
for model in models:
if model.id.startswith('ft:') and model.created < threshold:
print(f"Deleting old model: {model.id}")
response = client.models.delete(model.id)
print(f"Deleted: {response.deleted}")
Error Handling
try:
response = client.models.delete("ft:model-id")
print(f"Deleted: {response.id}")
except Exception as e:
if "permission" in str(e).lower():
print("You need Owner role to delete models")
elif "not found" in str(e).lower():
print("Model does not exist")
else:
print(f"Error: {e}")
Async Usage
from openai import AsyncOpenAI
client = AsyncOpenAI()
response = await client.models.delete(
model="ft:gpt-3.5-turbo:org:model:id"
)
print(f"Deleted: {response.deleted}")
Notes
- Requires Owner role: You must have the Owner role in your organization to delete models
- Fine-tuned models only: Base OpenAI models cannot be deleted
- Permanent action: Deletion is immediate and cannot be undone
- Active usage: Ensure the model is not actively being used in production before deletion
- Returns an error if:
- The model doesn’t exist
- You don’t have permission to delete the model
- The model is not a fine-tuned model
