> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://api.simkl.org/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Delete Playback
> Removes a saved playback session by its `id`. **HTTP method is `DELETE`** — using `POST` or `GET` against this URL will not delete and will instead hit the list handler. Get the IDs from [`GET /sync/playback/{type}`](/api-reference/simkl/get-playback-sessions).
#### Possible responses
| Status | `error` | When |
|---|---|---|
| `204` | — | Session deleted. |
| `404` | `empty` | The `id` is numeric but does not match any playback session for this user. |
| `404` | `url_failed` | The `id` segment is missing, `0`, or non-numeric (e.g. `notanumber`, `abc123`). |
**Use `DELETE` and pass a real positive integer id.** Calling `POST` or `GET /sync/playback/` does **not** delete anything — non-`DELETE` requests to this URL return the user's paused-playback list instead, the same shape as [`GET /sync/playback`](/api-reference/simkl/get-playback-sessions). Always explicitly send `DELETE`, and pass an `id` you got from [`GET /sync/playback/{type}`](/api-reference/simkl/get-playback-sessions). `DELETE /sync/playback/0`, `DELETE /sync/playback` (no id), and `DELETE /sync/playback/` all return `404 url_failed`.
Real-time playback tracking — `/start`, `/pause`, `/stop` lifecycle, paused-playback resumption across devices, when scrobble auto-completes, and the difference between `/scrobble/checkin` (fire-and-forget) and `/scrobble/start` (active tracking).
## OpenAPI
````yaml /openapi.json delete /sync/playback/{id}
openapi: 3.1.0
info:
title: Simkl API
version: 1.0.0
description: >-
The **Simkl API** lets you build apps that track Movies, TV Shows, and Anime
— scrobble playback, sync watch history, and pull rich metadata.
All requests use HTTPS and return JSON. The base URL is
`https://api.simkl.com`.
**Every request needs three URL parameters and a `User-Agent` header:**
```
/endpoint?client_id=YOUR_CLIENT_ID&app-name=my-app&app-version=1.0
```
See [Headers and required parameters](/conventions/headers) for the full
reference. Endpoints that read or modify a user's data also need an
`Authorization: Bearer ` header — see [OAuth
2.0](/api-reference/oauth) or the [PIN flow](/api-reference/pin).
> ⚠️ **About the auto-rendered cURL examples on each endpoint page:** they
omit `?client_id=…&app-name=…&app-version=…` from the URL for brevity. **You
must add them yourself when copy-pasting**, or use the interactive **"Try
it"** playground (it fills them in for you). This is a Mintlify rendering
convention — every Mintlify-built API doc behaves the same way.
**Get started**
- [Quickstart](/quickstart) — first request in 60 seconds
- [API rules](/api-rules) — what's allowed, what isn't
- [Standard media objects](/conventions/standard-media-objects) — the shapes
every endpoint speaks
- [Errors](/conventions/errors) — every status code Simkl returns
contact:
name: Simkl Developer Support
url: https://support.simkl.com
termsOfService: https://simkl.com/about/policies/terms/
license:
name: Simkl API Terms of Use
url: https://simkl.com/about/policies/terms/
x-logo:
url: https://i.simkl.com/img_tv/apiary_logo_api.png
backgroundColor: '#0E5DAB'
altText: Simkl
servers:
- url: https://api.simkl.com
description: Production API
- url: https://data.simkl.in
description: CDN for static, public data files (Calendar + Trending). No auth required.
security:
- clientId: []
- simklApiKey: []
tags:
- name: OAuth 2.0
description: >-
OAuth 2.0 authorization-code flow for web and mobile apps. The user is
redirected to Simkl, signs in, approves your app, and is redirected back
with a `code` you exchange for an `access_token`. Long-lived tokens — no
refresh-token flow needed.
externalDocs:
description: OAuth 2.0 walkthrough
url: https://api.simkl.org/api-reference/oauth
- name: PIN
description: >-
Device flow for TVs, consoles, smart watches, CLI tools — anywhere typing
a URL is hard. Show a 5-character code; user enters it on simkl.com/pin;
you poll for the access token. **No `client_secret` required.**
externalDocs:
description: PIN flow walkthrough
url: https://api.simkl.org/api-reference/pin
- name: Redirect
description: >-
Helper redirects for one-click "mark as watched", trailers, sharing, and
more.
- name: Search
description: Find shows, movies, and anime by ID, text query, file name, or randomly.
externalDocs:
description: Search guide
url: https://api.simkl.org/guides/search
- name: Movies
description: >-
Browse the Simkl movies catalog: details, premieres, top-of-best, and
genre filters.
- name: TV
description: >-
Browse the Simkl TV catalog: details, episodes, what's airing, premieres,
top-of-best, and genre filters.
- name: Anime
description: >-
Browse the Simkl anime catalog: details, episodes, what's airing,
premieres, top-of-best, and genre filters.
- name: Ratings
description: >-
Read Simkl's average community rating, rank, drop rate, and external
ratings (IMDB, MAL) for any item, or for every item in a user's lists.
- name: Scrobble
description: >-
Report real-time playback to Simkl with `start`, `pause`, and `stop`. At ≥
80 % progress Simkl marks the item as watched automatically; below 80 %
the session is saved as a paused playback the user can resume from any
device.
See [Standard media objects](/conventions/standard-media-objects) for the
supported ID keys.
### Supported ID keys
Inside any `ids` object, pass as many of these as you have. Simkl resolves
to the canonical record.
| ID key | Type | Example |
|---|---|---|
| `simkl` | integer | `49108`. Simkl's canonical ID. Most reliable. |
| `imdb` | string | `tt1520211` |
| `tmdb` | integer | `76757` (for TV, specify `type`) |
| `tvdb` | int / string | `153021` or `the-walking-dead` |
| `mal` | integer | `4246` (MyAnimeList) |
| `anidb` | integer | `10846`. Specifying just this is enough for anime
lookups. |
| `anilist` | integer | `21` |
| `kitsu` | integer | `12` |
| `anisearch` | integer | `2227` |
| `animeplanet` | string | `one-piece` |
| `livechart` | integer | `321` |
| `letterboxd` | string | `the-truman-show` |
| `netflix` | integer | `70210890` (movie ID) |
| `traktslug` | string | `john-wick-chapter-4-2023` |
> 📖 Full reference: [Standard media
objects](/conventions/standard-media-objects)
externalDocs:
description: Scrobble guide
url: https://api.simkl.org/guides/scrobble
- name: Sync
description: >-
Use Simkl as a cloud backup for the user's watch history and lists
(Watching, Plan to Watch, On Hold, Dropped, Completed). **Always check
[`/sync/activities`](/api-reference/simkl/get-activities) first** and sync
only the lists that have moved.
All write endpoints accept arrays — batch aggressively. See [Standard
media objects](/conventions/standard-media-objects) for the supported ID
keys.
### Supported ID keys
Inside any `ids` object, pass as many of these as you have. Simkl resolves
to the canonical record.
| ID key | Type | Example |
|---|---|---|
| `simkl` | integer | `49108`. Simkl's canonical ID. Most reliable. |
| `imdb` | string | `tt1520211` |
| `tmdb` | integer | `76757` (for TV, specify `type`) |
| `tvdb` | int / string | `153021` or `the-walking-dead` |
| `mal` | integer | `4246` (MyAnimeList) |
| `anidb` | integer | `10846`. Specifying just this is enough for anime
lookups. |
| `anilist` | integer | `21` |
| `kitsu` | integer | `12` |
| `anisearch` | integer | `2227` |
| `animeplanet` | string | `one-piece` |
| `livechart` | integer | `321` |
| `letterboxd` | string | `the-truman-show` |
| `netflix` | integer | `70210890` (movie ID) |
| `traktslug` | string | `john-wick-chapter-4-2023` |
> 📖 Full reference: [Standard media
objects](/conventions/standard-media-objects)
externalDocs:
description: Sync guide
url: https://api.simkl.org/guides/sync
- name: Users
description: User profile, settings, and watch statistics.
externalDocs:
description: Simkl API documentation
url: https://api.simkl.org
paths:
/sync/playback/{id}:
delete:
tags:
- Sync
summary: Delete Playback
description: >-
Removes a saved playback session by its `id`. **HTTP method is
`DELETE`** — using `POST` or `GET` against this URL will not delete and
will instead hit the list handler. Get the IDs from [`GET
/sync/playback/{type}`](/api-reference/simkl/get-playback-sessions).
#### Possible responses
| Status | `error` | When |
|---|---|---|
| `204` | — | Session deleted. |
| `404` | `empty` | The `id` is numeric but does not match any playback
session for this user. |
| `404` | `url_failed` | The `id` segment is missing, `0`, or
non-numeric (e.g. `notanumber`, `abc123`). |
**Use `DELETE` and pass a real positive integer id.** Calling `POST` or
`GET /sync/playback/` does **not** delete anything — non-`DELETE`
requests to this URL return the user's paused-playback list instead, the
same shape as [`GET
/sync/playback`](/api-reference/simkl/get-playback-sessions). Always
explicitly send `DELETE`, and pass an `id` you got from [`GET
/sync/playback/{type}`](/api-reference/simkl/get-playback-sessions).
`DELETE /sync/playback/0`, `DELETE /sync/playback` (no id), and `DELETE
/sync/playback/` all return `404 url_failed`.
Real-time playback tracking — `/start`, `/pause`, `/stop` lifecycle, paused-playback resumption across devices, when scrobble auto-completes, and the difference between `/scrobble/checkin` (fire-and-forget) and `/scrobble/start` (active tracking).
operationId: delete-sync-playback-id
parameters:
- name: id
in: path
description: >-
The numeric playback-session id to delete. Must be a positive
integer — pass values returned in the `id` field of [`GET
/sync/playback/{type}`](/api-reference/simkl/get-playback-sessions).
Non-numeric ids return `404 url_failed`; the literal value `0` is
interpreted as "no id" and falls through to the list handler (see
Warning above).
required: true
schema:
type: integer
minimum: 1
example: 10916890
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/ClientIdQuery'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/AppNameQuery'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/AppVersionQuery'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/UserAgentHeader'
responses:
'204':
description: Session deleted.
headers: {}
content: {}
'401':
$ref: '#/components/responses/Unauthorized'
'404':
description: >-
The id does not match a playback session for this user, OR the id
segment is non-numeric. The `error` field disambiguates: `empty` =
no such session; `url_failed` = bad URL shape.
content:
application/json:
schema:
$ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorResponse'
examples:
no_such_session:
summary: Numeric id has no matching session for this user
value:
error: empty
code: 404
non_numeric_id:
summary: Id segment is not a positive integer (e.g. `notanumber`)
value:
error: url_failed
code: 404
'412':
$ref: '#/components/responses/ClientIdFailed'
'429':
$ref: '#/components/responses/RateLimited'
'500':
$ref: '#/components/responses/ServerError'
security:
- clientId: []
bearerAuth: []
- simklApiKey: []
bearerAuth: []
x-codeSamples:
- lang: Shell
label: cURL — DELETE with -X
source: |-
curl -X DELETE \
-H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN" \
-H "User-Agent: my-app-name/1.0" \
"https://api.simkl.com/sync/playback/10916890?client_id=YOUR_CLIENT_ID&app-name=my-app-name&app-version=1.0"
- lang: JavaScript
label: 'fetch() — method: ''DELETE'''
source: |-
// Get a real id from GET /sync/playback/{type} first. Never pass 0.
const playbackId = 10916890;
const qs = new URLSearchParams({
client_id: "YOUR_CLIENT_ID",
"app-name": "my-app-name",
"app-version": "1.0",
});
const res = await fetch(
`https://api.simkl.com/sync/playback/${playbackId}?${qs}`,
{
method: "DELETE", // <-- must be DELETE, not POST or GET
headers: {
Authorization: `Bearer ${ACCESS_TOKEN}`,
"User-Agent": "my-app-name/1.0",
},
}
);
if (res.status === 204) {
console.log("deleted");
} else if (res.status === 404) {
const { error } = await res.json();
console.warn(error === "empty" ? "already gone" : "bad id shape");
}
- lang: Python
label: httpx — client.delete()
source: |-
# Get a real id from GET /sync/playback/{type} first. Never pass 0.
import httpx
playback_id = 10916890
params = {
"client_id": "YOUR_CLIENT_ID",
"app-name": "my-app-name",
"app-version": "1.0",
}
headers = {
"Authorization": f"Bearer {ACCESS_TOKEN}",
"User-Agent": "my-app-name/1.0",
}
r = httpx.delete( # <-- must be .delete(), not .post() or .get()
f"https://api.simkl.com/sync/playback/{playback_id}",
params=params,
headers=headers,
)
if r.status_code == 204:
print("deleted")
elif r.status_code == 404:
print("already gone" if r.json()["error"] == "empty" else "bad id shape")
components:
parameters:
ClientIdQuery:
name: client_id
in: query
required: true
description: >-
Your **`client_id`** from your [Simkl developer
settings](https://simkl.com/settings/developer/). Required on every
request.
schema:
type: string
example: YOUR_CLIENT_ID
AppNameQuery:
name: app-name
in: query
required: true
description: >-
Short, lowercase identifier for your app (e.g. `plex-scrobbler`,
`kodi-bridge`). Helps Simkl identify which apps are using the API.
schema:
type: string
example: my-app
AppVersionQuery:
name: app-version
in: query
required: true
description: >-
Your app's current version (e.g. `1.0`, `2.4.1`). Helps Simkl debug
issues you report.
schema:
type: string
example: '1.0'
UserAgentHeader:
name: User-Agent
in: header
required: true
description: >-
Descriptive identifier for your app, ideally `name/version`. Examples:
`PlexMediaServer/1.43.1.10540`, `kodi-simkl/0.9.2`, `MyApp/2.4.1
(https://myapp.com)`.
schema:
type: string
example: my-app/1.0
responses:
Unauthorized:
description: >-
Missing or invalid user access token. Provide a valid `Authorization:
Bearer ` header.
content:
application/json:
schema:
$ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorResponse'
example:
error: user_token_failed
code: 401
ClientIdFailed:
description: >-
Your `client_id` is missing, wrong, disabled, or has hit a request
limit. Verify in your [developer
settings](https://simkl.com/settings/developer/).
content:
application/json:
schema:
$ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorResponse'
example:
error: client_id_failed
code: 412
message: Your client_id is wrong. Try another one
RateLimited:
description: >-
Too many requests in too short a window. Back off and retry with
exponential backoff — see [Rate limits](/resources/rate-limits) for the
playbook.
content:
application/json:
schema:
$ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorResponse'
example:
error: rate_limit
code: 429
ServerError:
description: >-
Something is broken on Simkl's side. Retry after a short delay. If it
persists, report on the [Simkl Discord](https://discord.gg/MJsWNE4).
content:
application/json:
schema:
$ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorResponse'
example:
error: internal
code: 500
schemas:
ErrorResponse:
type: object
description: >-
Standard error envelope for 4xx and 5xx responses. Branch on `error`
(machine-readable identifier) — `message`, when present, is
human-readable guidance and is **not stable across releases**.
properties:
error:
type: string
description: >-
Machine-readable error identifier. Stable across responses — use
this for programmatic branching in client code. Examples:
`user_token_failed`, `client_id_failed`, `empty_field`,
`wrong_parameter`, `id_err`, `rate_limit`.
example: user_token_failed
code:
type: integer
description: >-
HTTP status code echoed in the body for convenience — same value as
the response status line. Always an integer.
example: 401
message:
type: string
description: >-
Human-readable error guidance. Optional — present on most errors,
but not guaranteed. May reference the specific field or value that
triggered the error. NOT stable; do not parse.
example: Your client_id is wrong. Try another one
required:
- error
- code
securitySchemes:
clientId:
type: apiKey
in: query
name: client_id
description: >-
Preferred form: your `client_id` as a URL query parameter on every
request. Self-describing in logs and curl commands. See [Headers and
required parameters](/conventions/headers).
x-default: YOUR_CLIENT_ID
simklApiKey:
type: apiKey
in: header
name: simkl-api-key
description: >-
Optional alias for the `client_id` query parameter. Simkl accepts your
`client_id` either as the `simkl-api-key` request header **or** as the
`?client_id=…` query parameter — pick one. The query-parameter form is
preferred because it makes the request fully self-describing in URL
form.
x-default: YOUR_CLIENT_ID
bearerAuth:
type: http
scheme: bearer
description: >-
OAuth 2.0 or PIN-flow `access_token`. Required for endpoints that read
or modify the user's library, scrobble session, ratings, settings, or
playbacks. See [Authentication](/authentication).
x-default: YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN
````