# How to inform the client of a deleted resource after a relationship update?

**URL:** <https://discuss.jsonapi.org/t/how-to-inform-the-client-of-a-deleted-resource-after-a-relationship-update/106>\
**Category:** Uncategorized\
**Created:** [September 2, 2015, 4:21pm UTC](https://discuss.jsonapi.org/t/how-to-inform-the-client-of-a-deleted-resource-after-a-relationship-update/106 "2015-09-02T16:21:49Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![lux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8c91f0/32.png) [@lux](https://discuss.jsonapi.org/u/lux)\
**Post date:** [September 2, 2015, 4:21pm UTC](https://discuss.jsonapi.org/t/how-to-inform-the-client-of-a-deleted-resource-after-a-relationship-update/106/1 "2015-09-02T16:21:49Z")

</div>

Hello

Is there a specified way to inform the client about a deleted resource after a relationship update?

It’s allowed to do this:

> A server may choose to delete the underlying resource if a relationship is deleted (as a garbage collection measure).

So if I have a `bar` resource with a relationship to multiple `foo` resources and the client has a cached list of all `foo` resources.  
I dont want to allow `foo` resources without a `bar` resource so when the relationship from a `bar` resource to a `foo` resource is deleted, I also delete the corresponding `foo` resource.

Is there a specified way to inform the client about this?  
If not. should there be such a way? Why not?

greetings,  
Lux

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![jlangley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9e8a1a/32.png) [@jlangley](https://discuss.jsonapi.org/u/jlangley)\
**Post date:** [July 22, 2016, 9:52pm UTC](https://discuss.jsonapi.org/t/how-to-inform-the-client-of-a-deleted-resource-after-a-relationship-update/106/2 "2016-07-22T21:52:20Z")

</div>

There’s no specified way, but a `200` response with top-level meta data would seem to be the obvious way to do this.