docs: make it clear that deleting apps, releases, and patches is permanent - #669
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…anent Deleting an app, release, or patch is a hard delete on the backend, but the docs only spelled out "permanent and cannot be undone" for account deletion. Users regularly ask support to restore deleted apps and releases. - Add a Delete Apps, Releases, and Patches page covering what each deletion removes, where the confirmation dialog appears, and reversible alternatives (rollback, staging tracks, transfer ownership). - Strengthen the danger callout on "Delete releases" and note the console confirmation dialog. - Document that individual patches cannot be deleted, only removed with their release or app. - Add an FAQ entry answering "Can you restore a deleted app, release, or patch?" and cross-link from the account deletion page.
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The release delete dialog's platform choice changes what actually happens: "All" deletes the release row and its patches, while picking a single platform deletes only that platform's release and patch binaries and leaves the release in place. The page described the two as one operation.
Self-reviewRe-read this with fresh eyes against the console and backend source. One real accuracy bug found and fixed in ba1b463; the rest is context for review. Fixed: the page described two different release deletions as oneThe platform picker in the delete dialog is not just a scope filter, it selects a different operation:
The page originally said deleting a release "deletes the release, its artifacts, and every patch published to it for the platforms you select," which is wrong for the single-platform case, and the follow-on claim that "devices will no longer receive patches for that release version" only holds for All. Both are now split out explicitly. Please sanity check that split against what you know of the intended behavior, since it is the one thing here I would most expect to have gotten subtly wrong. Verified
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Keep a single, plain statement that deletions can't be restored, but drop the alarmist framing (danger asides, bold "not restorable", "point of no return", "support cannot help afterwards") and lead with what users can do instead: roll back a patch, use a staging track, or transfer ownership. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
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Please make changes for improved clarity.
- Use a plain permanence note without the pointer to alternatives - Move Before you delete to the top and lead with rollback - Remove the summary table in favor of the per-type sections - Explain that releases are deleted per platform - Put app deletion consequences before the steps - Clarify that Transfer Ownership moves an app to another organization
Why
Deleting an app, a release, or a patch is permanent, but the docs only spelled
that out for account deletion. Users regularly reach out asking support to
restore a deleted app or release, and there is nothing to restore.
What changed
code-push/delete.mdx, sidebar "Delete", lands between Tracks and Uninstall). One findable place to point users at: what each deletion removes, where the confirmation dialog appears, and the reversible alternatives.release.mdx- the existing danger callout said only "not reversible". Now titled "Deleting a release is permanent", states it is not restorable, notes the console confirmation dialog, and points to rollback. Added a line after the platform-selection screenshot noting that confirming is immediate and permanent.patch.mdx- new "Delete a patch" section under Manage patches. There is no way to delete an individual patch, so patches are only removed along with their release or app. The docs now say that instead of implying a patch can be deleted on its own.faq.mdx- new entry "Can you restore a deleted app, release, or patch?" under Use cases & limitations, since that is where people searching are likely to land.account/delete-account.mdx- cross-link to the new page.Throughout, the docs steer users toward rollback rather than deletion for a
bad patch. Rollback is genuinely reversible (the console exposes a "Roll Forward"
action), so it is the right answer for the case that usually prompts someone to
delete a release in a panic.
Notes for review
further than it should have about how things work internally. I have cut it.
The published text now says only what is true from the user's side: no trash,
no archive, no undo, and support will not restore an individual deleted
resource. Ping me offline for the detail behind that change.
I deliberately did not claim either way whether a device that already
installed a patch keeps running it, since I could not confirm the device-side
behavior. If you know the answer, it is worth stating explicitly.
from the delete-app confirmation dialog's own copy.
rollback.mdxcurrently does not mention at all.
Verification
prettier,cspell, andvaleclean;astro buildpasses with "All internallinks are valid".