Add delete api and delete webhook commands

Add delete functionality to remove APIs and webhooks from projects.
Users can now clean up scaffolded resources with proper validation.

Author: camilamacedo86

docs/book/src/plugins/available/autoupdate-v1-alpha.md

@@ -38,6 +38,15 @@ kubebuilder edit --plugins="autoupdate/v1-alpha"
 kubebuilder init --plugins=go/v4,autoupdate/v1-alpha
 ```
 
+- To remove the auto-update workflow from your project:
+
+```shell
+kubebuilder delete --plugins=autoupdate/v1-alpha
+
+# Or combine with other plugins
+kubebuilder delete --plugins=autoupdate/v1-alpha,grafana/v1-alpha
+```
+
 ### Optional: GitHub Models AI Summary
 
 By default, the workflow works without GitHub Models to avoid permission errors.

docs/book/src/plugins/available/go-v4-plugin.md

@@ -32,6 +32,8 @@ kubebuilder init --domain tutorial.kubebuilder.io --repo tutorial.kubebuilder.io
 -  Edit -  `kubebuilder edit [OPTIONS]`
 -  Create API -  `kubebuilder create api [OPTIONS]`
 -  Create Webhook - `kubebuilder create webhook [OPTIONS]`
+-  Delete API - `kubebuilder delete api [OPTIONS]`
+-  Delete Webhook - `kubebuilder delete webhook [OPTIONS]`
 
 ## Further resources
 

docs/book/src/plugins/available/grafana-v1-alpha.md

@@ -50,10 +50,23 @@ kubebuilder init --plugins grafana.kubebuilder.io/v1-alpha
 
 # Enable grafana plugin to an existing project
 kubebuilder edit --plugins grafana.kubebuilder.io/v1-alpha
+
+# Remove grafana dashboards from project
+kubebuilder delete --plugins grafana.kubebuilder.io/v1-alpha
 ```
 
 The plugin will create a new directory and scaffold the JSON files under it (i.e. `grafana/controller-runtime-metrics.json`).
 
+### Removing Grafana Dashboards
+
+To remove Grafana manifests from your project:
+
+```sh
+kubebuilder delete --plugins=grafana.kubebuilder.io/v1-alpha
+```
+
+This removes the `grafana/` directory and all dashboard files.
+
 #### Show case:
 
 See an example of how to use the plugin in your project:

docs/book/src/plugins/available/helm-v2-alpha.md

@@ -73,6 +73,23 @@ kubebuilder edit --plugins=helm/v2-alpha \
   --output-dir=helm-charts
 ```
 
+### Removing Helm Charts
+
+To remove the Helm chart from your project:
+
+```shell
+# Delete Helm chart generation
+kubebuilder delete --plugins=helm/v2-alpha
+
+# Delete multiple optional plugins at once
+kubebuilder delete --plugins=helm/v2-alpha,grafana/v1-alpha
+```
+
+This removes:
+- `dist/chart/` directory
+- `.github/workflows/test-chart.yml`
+- Plugin configuration from PROJECT file
+
 ## Chart Structure
 
 The plugin creates a chart layout that matches your `config/`:

docs/book/src/plugins/extending/extending_cli_features_and_plugins.md

@@ -62,7 +62,9 @@ of the following CLI commands:
 - `init`: Initializes the project structure.
 - `create api`: Scaffolds a new API and controller.
 - `create webhook`: Scaffolds a new webhook.
-- `edit`: edit the project structure.
+- `delete api`: Deletes an API and its associated files.
+- `delete webhook`: Deletes a webhook and its associated files.
+- `edit`: Updates the project structure.
 
 Here’s an example of using the `init` subcommand with a custom plugin:
 

docs/book/src/plugins/extending/external-plugins.md

@@ -120,6 +120,8 @@ External plugins can support the following Kubebuilder subcommands:
 - `init`: Project initialization
 - `create api`: Scaffold Kubernetes API definitions
 - `create webhook`: Scaffold Kubernetes webhooks
+- `delete api`: Delete Kubernetes API definitions and associated files
+- `delete webhook`: Delete Kubernetes webhooks and associated files
 - `edit`: Update project configuration
 
 **Optional subcommands for enhanced user experience:**

docs/book/src/plugins/plugins.md

@@ -31,6 +31,10 @@ kubebuilder create api --plugins=pluginA,pluginB,pluginC
 OR
 kubebuilder create webhook --plugins=pluginA,pluginB,pluginC
 OR
+kubebuilder delete api --plugins=pluginA,pluginB,pluginC
+OR
+kubebuilder delete webhook --plugins=pluginA,pluginB,pluginC
+OR
 kubebuilder edit --plugins=pluginA,pluginB,pluginC
 ```
 

pkg/cli/cli.go

@@ -519,6 +519,15 @@ func (c *CLI) addSubcommands() {
 		c.cmd.AddCommand(createCmd)
 	}
 
+	// kubebuilder delete
+	deleteCmd := c.newDeleteCmd()
+	// kubebuilder delete api
+	deleteCmd.AddCommand(c.newDeleteAPICmd())
+	deleteCmd.AddCommand(c.newDeleteWebhookCmd())
+	if deleteCmd.HasSubCommands() {
+		c.cmd.AddCommand(deleteCmd)
+	}
+
 	// kubebuilder edit
 	c.cmd.AddCommand(c.newEditCmd())
 

pkg/cli/delete.go

@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2026 The Kubernetes Authors.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+package cli
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+
+	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
+
+	"sigs.k8s.io/kubebuilder/v4/pkg/plugin"
+)
+
+func (c CLI) newDeleteCmd() *cobra.Command {
+	cmd := &cobra.Command{
+		Use:   "delete",
+		Short: "Delete a Kubernetes API, webhook, or plugin features",
+		Long: `Delete a Kubernetes API, webhook, or plugin features.
+
+For resource-specific deletion:
+  kubebuilder delete api --group <group> --version <version> --kind <kind>
+  kubebuilder delete webhook --group <group> --version <version> --kind <kind>
+
+For project-level plugin deletion:
+  kubebuilder delete --plugins=helm/v2-alpha
+  kubebuilder delete --plugins=grafana/v1-alpha,autoupdate/v1-alpha
+`,
+		RunE: errCmdFunc(
+			fmt.Errorf("delete requires a subcommand (api, webhook) or --plugins flag"),
+		),
+	}
+
+	// If plugins are specified, route to Edit subcommand with delete context
+	if len(c.resolvedPlugins) > 0 {
+		subcommands := c.filterSubcommands(
+			func(p plugin.Plugin) bool {
+				_, isValid := p.(plugin.Edit)
+				return isValid
+			},
+			func(p plugin.Plugin) plugin.Subcommand {
+				return p.(plugin.Edit).GetEditSubcommand()
+			},
+		)
+
+		if len(subcommands) > 0 {
+			c.applySubcommandHooks(cmd, subcommands, "failed to delete plugin features", false)
+		}
+	}
+
+	return cmd
+}

pkg/cli/delete_api.go

@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2026 The Kubernetes Authors.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+package cli
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+
+	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
+
+	"sigs.k8s.io/kubebuilder/v4/pkg/plugin"
+)
+
+const deleteAPIErrorMsg = "failed to delete API"
+
+func (c CLI) newDeleteAPICmd() *cobra.Command {
+	cmd := &cobra.Command{
+		Use:   "api",
+		Short: "Delete a Kubernetes API",
+		Long: `Delete a Kubernetes API and its associated files.
+`,
+		RunE: errCmdFunc(
+			fmt.Errorf("api subcommand requires an existing project"),
+		),
+	}
+
+	// In case no plugin was resolved, instead of failing the construction of the CLI, fail the execution of
+	// this subcommand. This allows the use of subcommands that do not require resolved plugins like help.
+	if len(c.resolvedPlugins) == 0 {
+		cmdErr(cmd, noResolvedPluginError{})
+		return cmd
+	}
+
+	// Obtain the plugin keys and subcommands from the plugins that implement plugin.DeleteAPI.
+	subcommands := c.filterSubcommands(
+		func(p plugin.Plugin) bool {
+			_, isValid := p.(plugin.DeleteAPI)
+			return isValid
+		},
+		func(p plugin.Plugin) plugin.Subcommand {
+			return p.(plugin.DeleteAPI).GetDeleteAPISubcommand()
+		},
+	)
+
+	// Verify that there is at least one remaining plugin.
+	if len(subcommands) == 0 {
+		cmdErr(cmd, noAvailablePluginError{"API deletion"})
+		return cmd
+	}
+
+	c.applySubcommandHooks(cmd, subcommands, deleteAPIErrorMsg, false)
+
+	return cmd
+}