Remove data with forget()

forget() is cognee's one deletion API. It removes one document, a whole dataset, or only the derived memory (graph + vectors) while keeping the raw files. Deletion cannot be undone, so the workflow is always find, read, confirm, then delete.

Hard limits for agents

• Delete only what the user asked to forget. Identify it by reading the content first; never guess from a file name alone.
• Confirm the exact items with the user before deleting, unless they already named exact ids.
• The widest deletion you may run is forget(everything=True), and only when the user explicitly asks to wipe all of their memory. Never use any other reset or wipe mechanism to delete data.

Use it

1. Find the dataset

import cognee

datasets = await cognee.datasets.list_datasets()  # datasets the user can read
for ds in datasets:
    print(ds.id, ds.name)

HTTP: GET /api/v1/datasets. CLI: cognee-cli datasets list.

2. List its documents

items = await cognee.datasets.list_data(dataset_id)  # all Data rows, oldest first
for item in items:
    print(item.id, item.name, item.extension, item.created_at)

HTTP: GET /api/v1/datasets/{dataset_id}/data?limit=100&offset=0 (limit up to 1000; GET .../data/count for the total; example: examples/python/dataset_data_pagination.py). CLI: cognee-cli datasets data <dataset_uuid>.

Each item has id, name, created_at, extension, mime_type, raw_data_location, dataset_id, label, external_metadata (including any node_set), and data_size.

3. Read the content before deciding

Names are often text_<hash>.txt, so read the content to find what the user means.

• HTTP: GET /api/v1/datasets/{dataset_id}/data/{data_id}/raw returns the stored file (404 if it is gone).
• SDK: there is no "get raw" helper; open the stored location:

from cognee.infrastructure.files.utils.open_data_file import open_data_file