Can I delete messages which have been persisted through the history API?

Whilst the channel rule for message storage is enabled on a channel, any messages published on it will be persisted for the entire history period.

We currently don't provide an API to delete history, but get in touch if you need to be able to do so we can discuss your requirements.

When the history API is active on a channel, messages will be stored for a minimum of 24 hours for a free account, or 72 hours by default for paid accounts. If you need a different persistence period, please get in touch and we can adjust the period for you.

Further Reading:

- Our documentation for the history API covers the usage and principles of history 

- If you wish to enable history but are unsure how to, you can follow the steps found in our article for setting up history on channels

- If you want history to last longer than the defaults above, check out how to store messages for longer

- If you need to know how long different types of messages are being stored for compliance reasons, please see the article: For compliance reasons, I need to know how long will Ably store my data for

- You can find out how quickly multiple regions are updated with history data in our article: How synchronized / up to date is channel history between datacenters / regions?