candelete

Candelete is a term used in software design to describe whether a particular resource or record is permitted to be deleted. It does not refer to a specific standard; rather, it denotes a property that systems expose as a permission, attribute, or policy used to govern deletion operations.

The ability to delete is usually determined by a combination of user permissions (such as role-based or attribute-based access control), resource ownership, and the resource’s state (for example, if it is locked, protected, or part of a retention policy). In many systems, delete capability is separate from other actions and may apply to both soft delete (marking as deleted) and hard delete (permanent removal).

Common implementations include a boolean canDelete flag, entries in an access control list, or rules in a policy engine. Some architectures prefer soft deletes to preserve history and allow recovery, while others implement hard deletes with cascading effects on related data and with triggers to archive or notify.

Examples span multiple domains: in file systems, delete rights can be blocked by permissions or immutable attributes; in databases, deletion may be constrained by foreign key constraints or retention policies; in content management or CRM platforms, deletion may be restricted to protect references, enforce regulatory retention, or maintain audit trails.

Design considerations include enforcing canDelete on the server side, providing clear user feedback, logging attempts, supporting recovery or archiving, and aligning with data retention and privacy requirements. Remote or API-driven deletions should respect consistent authorization checks to prevent circumvention.

See also: access control, permissions, soft delete, hard delete, data retention, audit logging.