# Trash and permanent delete

> How a testimonial moves to the trash, how long it stays, how to restore it exactly as it was, and what deleting it permanently removes.

Removing a testimonial has two steps on purpose. The trash can be undone.
Deleting permanently cannot. The **Trash** page lists what is waiting
between the two: open **Testimonials** in the site's sidebar, then
**More** at the top of [the Inbox](/docs/testimonials/inbox), then
**Trash**. Its address is `/sites/<site id>/testimonials/trash`.

## Move to trash

**Move to trash** is in the menu of every row and card, in the **Danger
zone** of a testimonial's page, in [triage](/docs/testimonials/triage)
and in the [bulk bar](/docs/testimonials/bulk-actions). It needs
`content.write`.

A trashed testimonial keeps everything it had and is shown nowhere: not
in a widget, a wall, an image, an export or a public page. It leaves the
Inbox and is listed on the Trash page. On your site it is gone from new
visits within about ten seconds, and from a browser that already loaded
the widget within 5 minutes.

It stays in the trash for 30 days. After 30 full days it is deleted
permanently by itself, by a job that runs once a day. The page of a
trashed testimonial shows the date.

Moving to the trash can be undone like any other change: with **Undo**
on the notice for 10 seconds, then from
[the undo list](/docs/testimonials/bulk-actions#the-undo-list) for 7
days.

## The Trash page

Forms, widgets, walls, collections and tags use the same trash, so the
page has one tab for each kind, with its count: **Testimonials**,
**Forms**, **Widgets**, **Walls**, **Collections** and **Tags**.

| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| **Search the trash** | Finds items of the open tab by name. For a testimonial: by the person's name, the title or the words |
| The sort menu | **Latest in the trash** (the default) or **Leaving first** |
| **Empty trash** | Deletes everything in the trash for good, after a confirmation. Shown to members who hold `sites.manage` |

| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| **Item** | The person and the start of the words, or the name of the form, widget, wall, collection or tag |
| **Kind** | Testimonial, Form, Widget, Wall, Collection or Tag |
| **Was** | What it returns to on restore: the status of a testimonial, "Installed" or "Not installed yet" for a widget, "Manual collection" or "Smart collection", how many testimonials a tag was on |
| **Used by** | The widgets and walls that showed it, or "Nothing" |
| **Trashed** | Who moved it there and how long ago |
| **Leaves in** | The days left, such as "Leaves in 12 days". It turns red with a warning mark at 7 days or fewer |

Each row has **Restore**, and a menu with **Delete permanently**. Tick
rows to restore or delete several at once, up to 100 of one kind.

## Restore

**Restore** puts a trashed item back exactly as it was. A testimonial
returns to its status, its tags, its collections and the places that
showed it. A restore never counts as a new testimonial. It needs
`content.write`, and it is also at the top of a trashed testimonial's own
page.

Restoring testimonials can itself be undone for 7 days. Restoring a tag
or a collection is refused when another one took its name meanwhile.
Rename that one first.

## Delete permanently

**Delete permanently** is for members who may manage the site
(`sites.manage`). It is in three places.

| Where | What you type to confirm |
|---|---|
| The **Danger zone** of a testimonial's page, in the trash or not | The name of the person, or the id of the testimonial |
| The menu of a row on the Trash page, or the bar after ticking rows | For one item: its name or its id. For several: the name of the site |
| **Empty trash** | The name of the site |

From the Trash page the confirmation is a page of its own. It is headed
"This cannot be undone", names what will be deleted (the first ten, then
"and 12 more") and has the field to type in. Capitals do not matter. A
wrong text brings the page back with what you typed.

Deleting a testimonial removes the words, the edit history, the consent
record, the translations, the tags and collection places, and every
stored file: the recording, its poster, images and rendered pictures.
The files are deleted from storage and from the content delivery
network. The audit log keeps one line with the id of the testimonial,
its kind, the name of its source and how many files were removed, and
never the words or the person's name.

There is no undo, and nothing is kept in a backup you can restore from
the app.

## API and MCP

| Action | MCP tool | Permission |
|---|---|---|
| Move one testimonial to the trash | `testimonials_trash` | `content.write` |
| Restore one testimonial | `testimonials_restore` | `content.write` |
| Delete one testimonial permanently | `testimonials_delete` | `sites.manage` |
| List the trash, one kind at a time | `testimonial_trash_list` | `analytics.read` |
| Restore a selection of the trash | `testimonial_trash_restore` | `content.write` |
| Delete a selection of the trash permanently | `testimonial_trash_delete_permanently` | `sites.manage` |
| Empty the trash | `testimonial_trash_empty` | `sites.manage` |

The inputs are in the [API reference](/docs/api) and the
[MCP reference](/docs/mcp).

**An AI assistant cannot delete anything or move anything to the
trash.** The MCP tools `testimonials_trash`, `testimonials_delete`,
`testimonial_trash_delete_permanently` and `testimonial_trash_empty` run
nothing: each responds with `human_only` and the address of the page
where a person does it, and the assistant hands you that link. The
`trash` and `delete_permanently` bulk actions are refused over MCP the
same way. An assistant can list the trash and restore from it. The API
runs every one of them.

Over HTTP, `DELETE /sites/<site id>/testimonials/<id>/permanent.json`
needs `confirm`: the person's name or the testimonial's id. The trash
operations take `ids`, up to 100 of one kind, and deleting needs
`confirm` as in the table above. A selection that cannot be used is
refused with `too_many`, `unknown_ids` or `mixed_kinds`, and deleting
something that is not in the trash with `not_in_trash`.

## Good to know

- The 30 days start when the item is moved to the trash. Restoring it
  and trashing it again starts them over.
- A small trash is emptied at once. With more than 100 items **Empty
  trash** works in the background, and the page says how many are on
  their way out.
- Something another record still needs is left in the trash and counted,
  with "1 was left because something still uses it."
- A copy that was [merged as a duplicate](/docs/testimonials/duplicates)
  is in the trash too. Restoring it undoes the merge for that copy.
- A [saved view](/docs/testimonials/saved-views) that filters on a
  trashed tag or collection still opens, without that filter, and says
  so.
- Deleting permanently sends the `testimonial.deleted` webhook with the
  id only.