Do I need garbage collector when I delete object from branch by API?

Question

Do I need a garbage collector in LakeFS when I delete an object from a branch by API? Using appropriate method of course. Do I understand right that the garbage collector is used only for objects that are deleted by a commit. And this objects are soft deleted (by the commit). And if I use the delete API method than the object is hard deleted and I don’t need to invoke the garbage collector?

Answer 1

lakeFS manages versions of your data. So deletions only affect successive versions. The object itself remains, and can be accessed by accessing an older version.

Garbage collection removes the underlying files. Once the file is gone, its key is still visible in older versions, but if you try to access the file itself you will receive HTTP status code 410 Gone.

For full information, please see the Garbage collection docs.