Delete all records matching a filter — with cascade behavior and count return.

Deletes all records matching the where clause. Returns the count of deleted records.

const count = await client.db.User.deleteMany({
  where: { isActive: false },
});
// count: number

Options

Option	Type	Required	Description
`where`	`UserWhereInput`	Yes	Filter conditions to match records for deletion

Basic Usage

const count = await client.db.User.deleteMany({
  where: { isActive: false },
});
// count: number (number of deleted records)

With Complex Filter

const count = await client.db.Post.deleteMany({
  where: {
    createdAt: { lt: new Date('2024-01-01') },
    content: { isNull: true },
  },
});
// count: number

Multiple Conditions

const count = await client.db.Session.deleteMany({
  where: {
    expiresAt: { lt: new Date() },
    isRevoked: true,
  },
});

Logical Combinators

Use AND, OR, and NOT for complex deletion criteria:

const count = await client.db.Post.deleteMany({
  where: {
    OR: [
      { content: { isNull: true } },
      { createdAt: { lt: new Date('2023-01-01') } },
    ],
  },
});

Nested Relation Filters

You can filter through relations to delete records based on related data:

// Delete all posts where the author is inactive
const count = await client.db.Post.deleteMany({
  where: {
    author: { isActive: false },
  },
});

// Delete all users who have no posts
const count = await client.db.User.deleteMany({
  where: {
    posts: { isEmpty: true },
  },
});

Cascade Behavior

When records are deleted, Cerial automatically handles related records based on their relationship configuration:

Required foreign keys pointing to the deleted records trigger auto-cascade deletion. If a Post has a required authorId and the referenced User is deleted, the Post is also deleted.
Optional foreign keys follow their @onDelete strategy (e.g., set to null, set to NONE, or cascade). Configure this with @onDelete(SetNull), @onDelete(SetNone), or @onDelete(Cascade) on the relation field.
Array foreign keys have the deleted record's ID automatically removed from the array.

This cascade logic runs within the same transaction as the delete operation, ensuring data consistency. You don't need to manually clean up related records.

Be careful with broad where clauses — cascade deletions can propagate widely. A single deleteMany that removes many parent records could cascade-delete a large number of child records.

Return Value

Returns a number indicating how many records were deleted.
Returns 0 if no records match the where clause.

Scenario	Return
Records matched	`number` (count of deleted records)
No match	`0`

deleteMany

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