Genesys Cloud - Main

Hi all

Trying to delete some recordings which slipped through our deletions policies. I have used the bulk delete API in the past successfully, but didn't keep the Data Actions I created at the time. Now when I try it, I am not quite getting there.

My API payload (for /api/v2/recording/jobs - POST) - to delete recordings of calls to a particular DNIS: 

{
  "action": "DELETE",
  "actionDate": "2026-04-16T12:45:00.000Z",
  "includeRecordingsWithSensitiveData": false,
  "includeScreenRecordings": true,
  "clearExport": false,
  "conversationQuery": {
    "segmentFilters": [
      {
        "type": "or",
        "predicates": [
          {
            "type": "dimension",
            "dimension": "dnis",
            "operator": "matches",
            "value": "+441234567890"
          }
        ]
      }
    ],
    "interval": "2026-03-31T23:00:00.000Z/2026-04-29T23:00:00.000Z"
  }
}

...giving me job ID 3f91e391-38bd-4ae0-9bdf-6cc5a736f215. If I GET the status (/api/v2/recording/jobs/3f91e391-38bd-4ae0-9bdf-6cc5a736f215 - GET), i see: 

#API/Integrations

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Kieran McCormick
Telecoms Engineer
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Hi Kieran

I'm sure you already checked this but just to confirm, are these recordings not perhaps protected from being deleted?

Regards

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Stephan Taljaard
EMBEDIT s.r.o
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HI Kieran

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Kaio Oliveira
GCP - GCQM - GCS - GCA - GCD - GCO - GPE & GPR - GCWM

PS.: I apologize if there are any mistakes in my English; my primary language is Portuguese-Br.
------------------------------

Thank you @Kaio Oliveira

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Mohan Singh
Subject matter expert
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 04-16-2026 09:03
From: Kaio Oliveira
Subject: Bulk Delete API

HI Kieran

It looks like your query is actually working correctly because the job is finding the recordings (totalRecordings: 3). The issue seems to happen during the execution of the delete, since the job ends with:

 

totalProcessedRecordings: 3

totalFailedRecordings: 3

state: FAILED

 

This usually means the recordings were identified but Genesys Cloud was not allowed to delete them.

 

A few things I would recommend checking:

 

1. Recording retention policies

If the recordings are still within the retention period defined in a Recording Policy, they cannot be deleted manually. Even though the job shows includePolicyBasedRecordings: true, the platform will still prevent deletion if the retention period has not expired.

 

2. Permissions

Make sure the user or OAuth client executing the request has the required permissions, such as:

 

recording:recording:delete

recording:recordingSegment:delete

recording:job:add

recording:job:edit

recording:job:view

 

Missing permissions can cause the job to process but fail when attempting the delete.

 

3. Sensitive recordings

Your payload includes:

 

"includeRecordingsWithSensitiveData": false

 

If any of those recordings are marked as containing sensitive data (for example due to PCI redaction), they will be skipped or fail to delete. You could try setting this to true if appropriate.

 

4. Check the failed recordings endpoint

The response already provides a useful endpoint:

 

/api/v2/recording/jobs/{jobId}/failedrecordings

 

In your case:

 

/api/v2/recording/jobs/3f91e391-38bd-4ae0-9bdf-6cc5a736f215/failedrecordings

 

This endpoint should return the specific reason each recording failed to delete, which usually points directly to the root cause.

------------------------------
Kaio Oliveira
GCP - GCQM - GCS - GCA - GCD - GCO - GPE & GPR - GCWM

PS.: I apologize if there are any mistakes in my English; my primary language is Portuguese-Br.
------------------------------

Thank you @Kaio Oliveira

------------------------------
Uma Siva Shankar Kumar Babu Karanam
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 04-16-2026 09:03
From: Kaio Oliveira
Subject: Bulk Delete API

HI Kieran

It looks like your query is actually working correctly because the job is finding the recordings (totalRecordings: 3). The issue seems to happen during the execution of the delete, since the job ends with:

 

totalProcessedRecordings: 3

totalFailedRecordings: 3

state: FAILED

 

This usually means the recordings were identified but Genesys Cloud was not allowed to delete them.

 

A few things I would recommend checking:

 

1. Recording retention policies

If the recordings are still within the retention period defined in a Recording Policy, they cannot be deleted manually. Even though the job shows includePolicyBasedRecordings: true, the platform will still prevent deletion if the retention period has not expired.

 

2. Permissions

Make sure the user or OAuth client executing the request has the required permissions, such as:

 

recording:recording:delete

recording:recordingSegment:delete

recording:job:add

recording:job:edit

recording:job:view

 

Missing permissions can cause the job to process but fail when attempting the delete.

 

3. Sensitive recordings

Your payload includes:

 

"includeRecordingsWithSensitiveData": false

 

If any of those recordings are marked as containing sensitive data (for example due to PCI redaction), they will be skipped or fail to delete. You could try setting this to true if appropriate.

 

4. Check the failed recordings endpoint

The response already provides a useful endpoint:

 

/api/v2/recording/jobs/{jobId}/failedrecordings

 

In your case:

 

/api/v2/recording/jobs/3f91e391-38bd-4ae0-9bdf-6cc5a736f215/failedrecordings

 

This endpoint should return the specific reason each recording failed to delete, which usually points directly to the root cause.

------------------------------
Kaio Oliveira
GCP - GCQM - GCS - GCA - GCD - GCO - GPE & GPR - GCWM

PS.: I apologize if there are any mistakes in my English; my primary language is Portuguese-Br.
------------------------------

Hello Kieran, 

Just to add to @Kaio Oliveira reply, which is the most likely what's happening. 

The first thing I'd recommend is calling the failedRecordings endpoint from your job response. That will give you the exact error for each recording and usually points pretty clearly to what's going on behind the scenes.

Based on what you've shared, a few likely causes come to mind. Like Kaio said,  recordings may be protected from deletion due to compliance settings, which will block both manual and API-based deletes.

Permissions can also play a role-you'll want to make sure the user or client running the API has the Recording > Recording > Edit Retention permission. Another thing to check is your payload setting for sensitive data; since you've got includeRecordingsWithSensitiveData set to false, anything flagged as sensitive won't be deleted and could show up as a failure.

Lastly, keep in mind the bulk API only deletes full recordings, not segments, so if your query is filtering at the segment level, that can also lead to unexpected results.

Cheers, 

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Cameron
Online Community Manager/Moderator
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Thanks for all the replies Guys

It was a combination of OAuth Permission and retention policy. 

We had dialled back OAuth permissions, and early attempts with the Data Actions failed because of that so I thought I had them all up to where they needed to be once the Data Action started to run successfully (but without actually deleting anything). 

And the recordings in our test Org that I was picking for testing on were covered by the retention policy, so that was causing failure too. So I've gone back and tested on recordings from a few years ago that aren't in the policy, and the jobs are now being Fulfilled :)

Thanks for all your help

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Kieran McCormick
Telecoms Engineer
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