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HTTP DELETE Request

Zero-dependency Python snippets for making HTTP DELETE requests using the standard library.

6 snippets available in this sub-category.

Simple

Simple HTTP DELETE request

http delete request web urllib

Simple HTTP DELETE request

import urllib.request

def http_delete(url):
    """Perform a simple HTTP DELETE request."""
    req = urllib.request.Request(url, method="DELETE")
    with urllib.request.urlopen(req) as response:
        return response.read().decode("utf-8")

# Example usage
# url = "https://httpbin.org/delete"
# result = http_delete(url)
# print(result)

Notes

  • DELETE is used to remove resources
  • Not all servers support DELETE

HTTP DELETE with custom headers

http delete headers request web urllib

HTTP DELETE request with custom headers

import urllib.request

def http_delete_with_headers(url, headers=None):
    """HTTP DELETE request with custom headers."""
    req = urllib.request.Request(url, headers=headers or {}, method="DELETE")
    with urllib.request.urlopen(req) as response:
        return response.read().decode("utf-8")

# Example usage
# url = "https://httpbin.org/delete"
# headers = {"User-Agent": "stdlib-sniper/1.0", "X-Test": "true"}
# result = http_delete_with_headers(url, headers)
# print(result)

Notes

  • Useful for APIs requiring authentication or custom identification

HTTP DELETE with query parameters

http delete params query request web

HTTP DELETE request with query parameters

import urllib.request
import urllib.parse

def http_delete_with_params(url, params):
    """HTTP DELETE request with query parameters."""
    query = urllib.parse.urlencode(params)
    full_url = f"{url}?{query}" if params else url
    req = urllib.request.Request(full_url, method="DELETE")
    with urllib.request.urlopen(req) as response:
        return response.read().decode("utf-8")

# Example usage
# url = "https://httpbin.org/delete"
# params = {"id": 123, "force": "yes"}
# result = http_delete_with_params(url, params)
# print(result)

Notes

  • Query parameters are appended to the URL
  • Useful for RESTful APIs

Complex

HTTP DELETE with authentication (Basic Auth)

http delete basic-auth authentication headers web

HTTP DELETE request with Basic Authentication

import urllib.request
import base64

def http_delete_basic_auth(url, username, password):
    """HTTP DELETE request with Basic Authentication."""
    credentials = f"{username}:{password}".encode("utf-8")
    encoded_credentials = base64.b64encode(credentials).decode("utf-8")
    headers = {"Authorization": f"Basic {encoded_credentials}"}
    req = urllib.request.Request(url, headers=headers, method="DELETE")
    with urllib.request.urlopen(req) as response:
        return response.read().decode("utf-8")

# Example usage
# url = "https://httpbin.org/delete"
# result = http_delete_basic_auth(url, "user", "pass")
# print(result)

Notes

  • Encodes credentials as base64
  • Use for endpoints requiring authentication

HTTP DELETE with error handling

http delete error handling request web

HTTP DELETE request with error handling

import urllib.request
import urllib.error

def http_delete_safe(url, headers=None):
    """HTTP DELETE request with error handling."""
    try:
        req = urllib.request.Request(url, headers=headers or {}, method="DELETE")
        with urllib.request.urlopen(req) as response:
            return response.read().decode("utf-8")
    except urllib.error.HTTPError as e:
        print(f"HTTP error: {e.code} {e.reason}")
    except urllib.error.URLError as e:
        print(f"URL error: {e.reason}")
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Unexpected error: {e}")
    return None

# Example usage
# url = "https://httpbin.org/status/405"  # Method Not Allowed
# result = http_delete_safe(url)
# print(result)

Notes

  • Handles HTTP and URL errors
  • Returns None on failure

Edge Cases

Invalid URL, unsupported method, missing authentication

http delete error edge-case authentication web

Edge cases: invalid URL, unsupported method, missing authentication

def http_delete_safe(url, headers=None):
    # Function is defined in one of the above code block
    pass


# Edge case: Invalid URL
try:
    http_delete_safe("not-a-url")
except Exception as e:
    print(f"Error: {e}")

# Edge case: Unsupported method (server returns 405)
# Edge case: Missing authentication (server returns 401/403)

Notes

  • Invalid URLs raise URLError or ValueError
  • Some servers do not support DELETE (405 Method Not Allowed)
  • Missing authentication may result in 401/403 errors

🔗 Cross-References

🏷️ Tags

http, delete, request, headers, params, basic-auth, authentication, error, edge-case, web

📝 Notes

  • DELETE is not idempotent on all servers (check API docs)
  • For soft deletes, use PATCH or custom endpoints
  • Always check server documentation for supported methods
  • For async or batch deletes, consider asyncio or third-party libraries