# Deleted files and revisions

A delete is soft: the entry reads back as a tombstone, its revisions stay listed, and any of them restores.

A deleted file leaves a tombstone and its revisions behind, and any revision restores. Boot the simulator as in the Quickstart, upload a file twice, delete it and bring the oldest revision back:

```bash
H='Authorization: Bearer sl.placeholder'
J='Content-Type: application/json'
O='Content-Type: application/octet-stream'
curl -s "$RYSTIC_URL/2/files/upload" -H "$H" -H "$O" -H 'Dropbox-API-Arg: {"path":"/draft.txt","mode":"add"}' --data-binary 'v1' | jq -c '{name, size}'
# -> {"name":"draft.txt","size":2}
curl -s "$RYSTIC_URL/2/files/upload" -H "$H" -H "$O" -H 'Dropbox-API-Arg: {"path":"/draft.txt","mode":"overwrite"}' --data-binary 'v2' | jq -c '{name, size}'
# -> {"name":"draft.txt","size":2}
curl -s "$RYSTIC_URL/2/files/delete_v2" -H "$H" -H "$J" -d '{"path":"/draft.txt"}' | jq -c '.metadata.name'
# -> "draft.txt"
curl -s "$RYSTIC_URL/2/files/get_metadata" -H "$H" -H "$J" -d '{"path":"/draft.txt","include_deleted":true}' | jq -c .
# -> {".tag":"deleted","name":"draft.txt","path_display":"/draft.txt","path_lower":"/draft.txt"}
curl -s "$RYSTIC_URL/2/files/list_revisions" -H "$H" -H "$J" -d '{"path":"/draft.txt"}' | jq -c '{is_deleted, revisions: (.entries | length)}'
# -> {"is_deleted":true,"revisions":2}
REV=$(curl -s "$RYSTIC_URL/2/files/list_revisions" -H "$H" -H "$J" -d '{"path":"/draft.txt"}' | jq -r '.entries[-1].rev')
curl -s "$RYSTIC_URL/2/files/restore" -H "$H" -H "$J" -d "{\"path\":\"/draft.txt\",\"rev\":\"$REV\"}" | jq -c '{name, size}'
# -> {"name":"draft.txt","size":2}
curl -s "$RYSTIC_URL/2/files/download" -H "$H" -H 'Dropbox-API-Arg: {"path":"/draft.txt"}'
# -> v1
```

### Tombstones

`delete_v2` is a soft delete: the entry no longer reads back by path, and downloading it returns 409 `path/not_found`. With `include_deleted: true`, two routes still return it as a tombstone:

| Route | Returns |
|---|---|
| `list_folder` | the tombstone among the folder's entries |
| `get_metadata` | `DeletedMetadata`: `.tag`, `name`, `path_lower` and `path_display` |

A deleted folder is a tombstone too.

### Revisions

Every upload, session finish, restore and move of a file records its own `rev`. A deleted file is still a file to `files/list_revisions`, which returns its revisions with `is_deleted: true`. Any of them restores through `files/restore`, as a new revision with that revision's bytes. `list_revisions` in `id` mode lists a file's revisions across renames, and `mode` takes the bare tag (`"id"`) as well as `{".tag": "id"}`.

The `dropbox_deleted_backlog` scenario boots with four deleted files, each with its revision listed and ready to restore, and one deleted folder:

- `/Archive/old-budget.xlsx`
- `/Archive/old-budget-v2.xlsx`
- `/Drafts/pitch-draft.key`
- `/Drafts/pitch-final.key`
- the folder `/Archive/retired`

---

Source: https://www.rystic.ai/docs/simulators/dropbox/features/deleted-files · Markdown: https://www.rystic.ai/docs/simulators/dropbox/features/deleted-files.md