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Remove a generator

Removing a Generator involves three separate things: the Generator definition registered from .infrahub.yml, the objects the Generator created in Infrahub, and the groups that track those objects and the Generator's query. Removing the definition stops the Generator from running and deletes its Generator instances on the branch where you remove it. When that branch is merged, the instances on the default branch remain. For what stays in Infrahub, see What Infrahub deletes when a target or definition is removed.

Handle the objects first, then the definition and its query, then the Generator groups.

Delete the objects the Generator created​

A Generator removes its own obsolete objects only when it runs, through the SDK tracking feature. Once the definition is gone the Generator never runs again, so it can no longer remove the objects it created. Delete or reassign those objects — through the UI, GraphQL, or the SDK — while the definition still exists.

To identify what a Generator created, list the members of its Generator groups. See Delete the groups the Generator leaves behind to find the groups. A Generator instance records a run for one target object and does not link to the objects the run created.

Remove the definition from .infrahub.yml​

On a branch, delete the Generator's entry from the generator_definitions list in your repository's .infrahub.yml:

generator_definitions:
  # Remove the block for the Generator you are retiring:
  - name: <your_generator>
    file_path: "generators/<your_generator>.py"
    targets: <your_target_group>
    query: <your_query>
    class_name: YourGenerator

Remove the Generator's Python file, and any query used only by this Generator. Commit the changes and merge the branch through a Proposed Change. On the next repository sync, Infrahub removes the CoreGeneratorDefinition registration and the queries you removed.

Delete the groups the Generator leaves behind​

Two kinds of group remain after you remove the definition, as What Infrahub deletes when a target or definition is removed shows:

  • Generator groups (CoreGeneratorGroup, or CoreGeneratorAwareGroup when the definition set execute_after_merge: false) — named <generator definition name>-<parameters hash>, one for each set of parameters the Generator ran with. Their members are the objects the Generator created.
  • GraphQL query groups (CoreGraphQLQueryGroup) — named <query name>__<parameters hash>, with the label Query <query name> Hash(<first 8 characters of the hash>). Infrahub deletes them with their query only on the branch where the query is deleted. Query groups are branch-local, so when you merge the branch, the query groups on the default branch remain. The name comes from the query, not from the Generator, so another definition that runs the same query with the same parameters uses the same group. If you keep the query because another definition uses it, keep its query groups too.

CoreGeneratorGroup and CoreGraphQLQueryGroup are branch-local. Delete them on the branch that holds them, usually the default branch. A delete on a Proposed Change branch does not reach the default branch. CoreGeneratorAwareGroup is branch-aware, so you can delete it on a branch: the delete reaches the default branch when the branch is merged.

Find the Generator groups by kind and name, then delete them as described in Delete a group. If you removed the query, find its query groups in the same way, with the kind CoreGraphQLQueryGroup and the query name. Generator groups appear in the list of groups in the web interface. With the Python SDK, partial_match=True matches every group whose name contains the value, ignoring case, so check the list before you delete:

groups = []
for kind in ("CoreGeneratorGroup", "CoreGeneratorAwareGroup"):
    groups += await client.filters(kind=kind, name__value="<your_generator>", partial_match=True)
for group in groups:
    print(group.name.value)

# After checking the list:
for group in groups:
    await group.delete()

Deleting a group does not delete its members.

Verify the removal​

infrahubctl generator --list

The retired Generator no longer appears in the list. In the UI, confirm it is gone from Actions → Generator Definitions.