deleteMany

Delete every record matching a filter

Delete every record matching the filter, in one call:

const result = await client.post.deleteMany({
  where: { published: false },
});
// Result: { count: 15 }

deleteMany returns a { count }.

Delete all

// Delete every record (use with care!)
await client.post.deleteMany({});
// or
await client.post.deleteMany();

Examples

// Delete old drafts
await client.post.deleteMany({
  where: {
    published: false,
    createdAt: { lt: new Date("2023-01-01") },
  },
});

// Delete by relation
await client.post.deleteMany({
  where: {
    author: { is: { status: "BANNED" } },
  },
});

// Delete inactive non-admin users
await client.user.deleteMany({
  where: {
    lastLogin: { lt: new Date(Date.now() - 365 * 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000) },
    role: { not: "ADMIN" },
  },
});

Getting the deleted rows back

Add a select and deleteMany returns the rows it removed instead of a count:

const removed = await client.post.deleteMany({
  where: { published: false },
  select: { id: true, title: true },
});
// Type: { id: string; title: string }[]

The rows are captured and deleted inside one atomic scope, so what you get back is exactly what is now gone — no read-then-delete window where another writer can change the set in between.

Capping how many rows are deleted

limit caps the number of rows the delete removes. The count you get back is min(matching, limit):

// Trim the audit log in bounded chunks instead of one huge delete
const result = await client.auditEntry.deleteMany({
  where: { createdAt: { lt: cutoff } },
  limit: 1000,
});
// Result: { count: 1000 } if at least 1000 matched, fewer otherwise

limit: 0 is legal and means “delete nothing”: you get { count: 0 } and no write statement is sent at all. A negative or fractional limit is a validation error. limit caps the returning form too — with select you get back exactly the rows that were removed.

Options

await client.user.deleteMany({
  where: { ... },       // Optional: filter (all rows if empty)
  limit: 1000,          // Optional: cap on how many rows are deleted
  select: { ... },      // Optional (scalar fields only): return the deleted rows
                        // instead of { count }
});