Delete Compute Instance

Deletes a specific compute instance by its ID. This action is irreversible.

Requirements:

Requires compute permissions (extra_permissions.compute = true)
Instance must belong to the authenticated user’s workspace

Key Features:

Permanently remove compute instances
Free up compute resources
Stop billing for the instance
Clean up unused resources

Important:

This action cannot be undone
All data on the instance will be lost
Instance will be immediately terminated
Billing stops after deletion

Common Use Cases:

Clean up completed workloads
Remove failed or stuck instances
Manage compute costs
Free up quota for new instances

See fal.ai docs for more details.

Required permissions: compute:instances:write. Key presets that include them: COMPUTE, FULL. See key permissions.

DELETE

compute

instances

{id}

Delete Compute Instance

curl --request DELETE \
  --url https://api.fal.ai/v1/compute/instances/{id} \
  --header 'Authorization: <api-key>'

const options = {method: 'DELETE', headers: {Authorization: '<api-key>'}};

fetch('https://api.fal.ai/v1/compute/instances/{id}', options)
  .then(res => res.json())
  .then(res => console.log(res))
  .catch(err => console.error(err));

{
  "error": {
    "type": "authorization_error",
    "message": "Authentication required"
  }
}

{
  "error": {
    "type": "authorization_error",
    "message": "Access denied"
  }
}

{
  "error": {
    "type": "not_found",
    "message": "Resource not found"
  }
}

{
  "error": {
    "type": "rate_limited",
    "message": "Rate limit exceeded"
  }
}

{
  "error": {
    "type": "server_error",
    "message": "An unexpected error occurred"
  }
}

Authorizations

Authorization

string

header

required

Key on the COMPUTE preset, or any key whose permissions include the ones this API lists. Prefix it with "Key ", e.g. Authorization: Key YOUR_API_KEY

Path Parameters

string

required

Unique identifier for the compute instance

Minimum string length: 1

Example:

"inst_abc123xyz"

Response

Compute instance deleted successfully

⌘I

Delete Compute Instance

curl --request DELETE \
  --url https://api.fal.ai/v1/compute/instances/{id} \
  --header 'Authorization: <api-key>'

const options = {method: 'DELETE', headers: {Authorization: '<api-key>'}};

fetch('https://api.fal.ai/v1/compute/instances/{id}', options)
  .then(res => res.json())
  .then(res => console.log(res))
  .catch(err => console.error(err));

{
  "error": {
    "type": "authorization_error",
    "message": "Authentication required"
  }
}

{
  "error": {
    "type": "authorization_error",
    "message": "Access denied"
  }
}

{
  "error": {
    "type": "not_found",
    "message": "Resource not found"
  }
}

{
  "error": {
    "type": "rate_limited",
    "message": "Rate limit exceeded"
  }
}

{
  "error": {
    "type": "server_error",
    "message": "An unexpected error occurred"
  }
}