Evaluate the applicable retention policy before calling any filesystem removal API. In Node.js 24, unlink removes one file or symbolic link, while rm can remove a file or directory; neither chooses a retention period, confirms legal compliance, or records policy approval for your application.
Run the retention decision before filesystem deletion
Treat eligibility and removal as separate steps: the policy decision authorizes or blocks deletion; Node.js performs the authorized filesystem operation. The Node.js v24.20.0 File system API documentation describes removal mechanics, not campaign-retention rules.
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- Load the asset record. Retrieve the campaign image or video record and the metadata your organization’s authoritative retention policy needs.
- Evaluate the applicable rule. Check the policy and any relevant hold or approval state. The fields, rules, and values are application-specific; Node.js does not define them.
- Stop unless deletion is affirmatively allowed. If the decision blocks deletion, or cannot establish permission, do not call
unlinkorrm. Record the decision and reason in your application’s audit mechanism. - Resolve and constrain the target. Obtain the intended path from trusted asset metadata. Match the operation and scope to what the policy decision authorizes; do not broaden a single-asset decision into recursive directory deletion.
- Perform the authorized operation and handle its result. Await the filesystem call, handle errors, and record the deletion result in your application’s audit mechanism. The Node.js API reference does not promise to create an audit trail.
Choose unlink or rm by target and scope
| API | Target it removes | Scope and relevant behavior |
|---|---|---|
unlink / fsPromises.unlink() |
A file or symbolic link | Does not remove a directory, whether empty or not. Use for an individual file or symbolic link. |
rm / fsPromises.rm(path, options) |
Files and directories | Use for an individual target or, with recursive: true, an explicitly authorized directory tree. Recursion is off by default. |
The v24.20.0 documentation describes fsPromises.rm as removing “files and directories (modeled on the standard POSIX rm utility).” For recursive directory removal, use rm; recursive fs.rmdir behavior is deprecated.
Use rm options deliberately
In the Node.js v24.20.0 API, fsPromises.rm(path, options) fulfills with undefined on success. Its documented defaults are conservative: it does not recursively remove directories, suppress missing-path errors, or retry by default.
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| Option | Documented default | Effect and decision |
|---|---|---|
recursive |
false |
Set to true only when the authorized target is a directory tree that should be removed recursively. |
force |
false |
When enabled, suppresses errors for a missing path. Decide explicitly whether a missing target counts as success in your workflow. |
maxRetries |
0 |
Maximum retries for documented retryable errors in recursive mode. Retries do not make deletion eligible. |
retryDelay |
100 ms |
Delay between retries in recursive mode. Choose retry behavior for operational needs, not as a retention control. |
When retries are configured for recursive removal, the documentation lists EBUSY, EMFILE, ENFILE, ENOTEMPTY, and EPERM as retryable error classes. Retry settings apply only when recursive is true.
Illustrative Node.js 24 implementation
This example shows the sequence, not a ready-made policy or complete production implementation. The policy evaluator, asset model, path authorization, error handling, and audit storage must be supplied by the application.
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import { rm, unlink } from 'node:fs/promises';
async function deleteEligibleAsset(asset, policy, { directory = false } = {}) {
// Implement this check from the organization's authoritative retention policy.
// It must account for applicable holds and approvals before any removal call.
const decision = await policy.evaluate(asset);
if (!decision.allowed) {
return { deleted: false, reason: decision.reason };
}
// Choose only the scope authorized by the policy decision.
if (directory) {
await rm(asset.path, { recursive: true });
} else {
await unlink(asset.path);
}
return { deleted: true };
}For a production job, ensure the policy decision authorizes the actual path and scope being removed, and add application-level logging for both blocked decisions and filesystem outcomes. If the job needs to tolerate a missing path or retry transient failures, configure those behaviors explicitly; neither force: true nor recursive deletion replaces the retention gate.
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