Delete Model

Delete a fine-tuned model from your organization

Overview

Deletes a fine-tuned model. You must have the Owner role in your organization to delete a model.

This action is permanent and cannot be undone. The model will be immediately removed and can no longer be used for inference.

Method

client.models.delete(model="ft:gpt-3.5-turbo:org-id:model-name:id")

Parameters

model · string · required

The ID of the fine-tuned model to delete. Must be a model you own.

Only fine-tuned models can be deleted. Base OpenAI models (like gpt-4 or gpt-3.5-turbo) cannot be deleted.

extra_headers · dict

Send extra headers with the request

extra_query · dict

Add additional query parameters to the request

timeout · float

Override the client-level default timeout for this request, in seconds

Response

Returns a ModelDeleted object confirming the deletion.

id · string

The ID of the deleted model

deleted · boolean

Confirmation that the model was deleted (always true on success)

object · string

The object type (typically “model”)

Examples

Delete a Fine-Tuned Model

from openai import OpenAI

client = OpenAI()

# Delete a fine-tuned model
response = client.models.delete(
    model="ft:gpt-3.5-turbo:my-org:custom-model:id"
)

if response.deleted:
    print(f"Successfully deleted model: {response.id}")

Safe Deletion with Confirmation

def delete_model_safely(model_id: str):
    try:
        # First, verify the model exists
        model = client.models.retrieve(model_id)
        
        # Confirm it's a fine-tuned model
        if not model_id.startswith('ft:'):
            print("Can only delete fine-tuned models")
            return False
        
        # Delete the model
        response = client.models.delete(model_id)
        return response.deleted
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Error deleting model: {e}")
        return False

deleted = delete_model_safely("ft:gpt-3.5-turbo:org:model:id")
if deleted:
    print("Model deleted successfully")

List and Delete Old Models

from datetime import datetime, timedelta

# Get all models
models = client.models.list()

# Find fine-tuned models older than 90 days
threshold = datetime.now().timestamp() - (90 * 24 * 60 * 60)

for model in models:
    if model.id.startswith('ft:') and model.created < threshold:
        print(f"Deleting old model: {model.id}")
        response = client.models.delete(model.id)
        print(f"Deleted: {response.deleted}")

Error Handling

try:
    response = client.models.delete("ft:model-id")
    print(f"Deleted: {response.id}")
except Exception as e:
    if "permission" in str(e).lower():
        print("You need Owner role to delete models")
    elif "not found" in str(e).lower():
        print("Model does not exist")
    else:
        print(f"Error: {e}")

Async Usage

from openai import AsyncOpenAI

client = AsyncOpenAI()

response = await client.models.delete(
    model="ft:gpt-3.5-turbo:org:model:id"
)
print(f"Deleted: {response.deleted}")

Notes

• Requires Owner role: You must have the Owner role in your organization to delete models
• Fine-tuned models only: Base OpenAI models cannot be deleted
• Permanent action: Deletion is immediate and cannot be undone
• Active usage: Ensure the model is not actively being used in production before deletion
• Returns an error if:
  • The model doesn’t exist
  • You don’t have permission to delete the model
  • The model is not a fine-tuned model