NAME

       datalad drop - drop content of individual files or entire (sub)datasets

SYNOPSIS

       datalad            drop            [-h]            [--what            {filecontent|allkeys|datasets|all}]
              [--reckless {modification|availability|undead|kill}] [-d DATASET]  [-r]  [-R  LEVELS]  [-J  NJOBS]
              [--nocheck] [--if-dirty IF_DIRTY] [--version] [PATH ...]

DESCRIPTION

       This  command is the antagonist of 'get'. It can undo the retrieval of file content, and the installation
       of subdatasets.

       Dropping is a safe-by-default operation. Before dropping any information, the command confirms  the  con‐
       tinued  availability  of  file-content  (see e.g., configuration 'annex.numcopies'), and the state of all
       dataset branches from at least one known dataset sibling. Moreover, prior removal of  an  entire  dataset
       annex, that it is confirmed that it is no longer marked as existing in the network of dataset siblings.

       Importantly, all checks regarding version history availability and local annex availability are performed
       using  the  current  state of remote siblings as known to the local dataset. This is done for performance
       reasons and for resilience in case of absent network connectivity. To ensure  decision  making  based  on
       up-to-date information, it is advised to execute a dataset update before dropping dataset components.

   Examples
       Drop single file content::

        % datalad drop <path/to/file>

       Drop all file content in the current dataset::

        % datalad drop

       Drop all file content in a dataset and all its subdatasets::

        % datalad drop -d <path/to/dataset> -r

       Disable check to ensure the configured minimum number of remote sources for dropped data::

        % datalad drop <path/to/content> --reckless availability

       Drop (uninstall) an entire dataset (will fail with subdatasets present)::

        % datalad drop --what all

       Kill  a  dataset recklessly with any existing subdatasets too(this will be fast, but will disable any and
       all safety checks)::

        % datalad drop --what all, --reckless kill --recursive

OPTIONS

       PATH   path of a dataset or dataset component to be dropped. Constraints: value must be a string or value
              must be NONE

       -h, --help, --help-np
              show this help message. --help-np forcefully disables the use of a pager for displaying  the  help
              message

       --what {filecontent|allkeys|datasets|all}
              select  what  type of items shall be dropped. With 'filecontent', only the file content (git-annex
              keys) of files in a dataset's worktree will be dropped. With 'allkeys', content of any version  of
              any  file  in any branch (including, but not limited to the worktree) will be dropped. This effec‐
              tively empties the annex of a local dataset. With  'datasets',  only  complete  datasets  will  be
              dropped (implies 'allkeys' mode for each such dataset), but no filecontent will be dropped for any
              files  in  datasets  that  are  not dropped entirely. With 'all', content for any matching file or
              dataset will be dropped entirely. Constraints: value must be  one  of  ('filecontent',  'allkeys',
              'datasets', 'all') [Default: 'filecontent']

       --reckless {modification|availability|undead|kill}
              disable  individual  or  all  data  safety  measures that would normally prevent potentially irre‐
              versible data-loss. With 'modification', unsaved modifications in a dataset will not be  detected.
              This improves performance at the cost of permitting potential loss of unsaved or untracked dataset
              components. With 'availability', detection of dataset/branch-states that are only available in the
              local  dataset,  and  detection of an insufficient number of file-content copies will be disabled.
              Especially the latter is a potentially expensive check which might involve numerous network trans‐
              actions. With 'undead', detection of whether a to-be-removed local annex is still known  to  exist
              in  the  network  of  dataset-clones  is disabled. This could cause zombie-records of invalid file
              availability. With 'kill', all safety-checks are disabled.  Constraints:  value  must  be  one  of
              ('modification', 'availability', 'undead', 'kill')

       -d DATASET, --dataset DATASET
              specify the dataset to perform drop from. If no dataset is given, the current working directory is
              used as operation context. Constraints: Value must be a Dataset or a valid identifier of a Dataset
              (e.g. a path) or value must be NONE

       -r, --recursive
              if set, recurse into potential subdatasets.

       -R LEVELS, --recursion-limit LEVELS
              limit  recursion  into  subdatasets to the given number of levels. Constraints: value must be con‐
              vertible to type 'int' or value must be NONE

       -J NJOBS, --jobs NJOBS
              how many parallel jobs (where possible) to use. "auto" corresponds to the number defined by 'data‐
              lad.runtime.max-annex-jobs' configuration item. Constraints: value must  be  convertible  to  type
              'int' or value must be NONE or value must be one of ('auto',)

       --nocheck
              DEPRECATED: use '--reckless availability'.

       --if-dirty IF_DIRTY
              DEPRECATED and IGNORED: use --reckless instead.

       --version
              show the module and its version which provides the command

AUTHORS

        datalad is developed by The DataLad Team and Contributors <team@datalad.org>.

datalad drop 1.1.5                                 2025-06-15                                    datalad drop(1)