sqlalchemy-easy-softdelete

What it is and what it does

sqlalchemy-easy-softdelete is a mixin generator that adds soft-deletion semantics to SQLAlchemy models without requiring schema changes or explicit WHERE clauses in every query. Instead of deleting records, you mark them with a timestamp (by default `deleted_at`), and the library installs a query hook that automatically filters out soft-deleted rows from all SELECT statements—both in direct queries and through model relationships. You generate a customized mixin class, apply it to your models, and gain `.delete()` and `.undelete()` methods plus automatic query rewriting.

The mixin is fully configurable: you can choose the field name, its type, whether to include delete/undelete methods, and which tables the hook should ignore. This approach preserves audit trails and referential integrity while keeping deleted data invisible by default—queries return only active records unless you explicitly pass `include_deleted=True` to override the filter.

Use it for

• Implement audit trails in business applications where deleted records must remain in the database for compliance or recovery.
• Build multi-tenant systems where soft-deleted data must be excluded from user-facing queries but retained for administrative review.
• Add undo/restore functionality to applications without requiring complex transaction rollback or backup restoration.
• Maintain referential integrity in systems where cascading hard deletes would break historical reporting or linked records.
• Simplify query logic by removing the need to manually add `WHERE deleted_at IS NULL` conditions throughout the codebase.

Worth the install?

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Install

sqlalchemy-easy-softdelete on PyPI

Before you install

Low install friction; single dependency on sqlalchemy. Actively maintained with recent releases and a stable codebase marked as Production/Stable.

Requires Python 3.10 or later; SQLAlchemy must be installed separately.

License in practice

BSD-3-Clause permissive license allows commercial and private use with minimal restrictions.

Quickstart

pip install sqlalchemy-easy-softdelete

from sqlalchemy_easy_softdelete.mixin import generate_soft_delete_mixin_class
from sqlalchemy.orm import declarative_base
from sqlalchemy import Column, Integer

class SoftDeleteMixin(generate_soft_delete_mixin_class()):
    pass

Base = declarative_base()

class Fruit(Base, SoftDeleteMixin):
    __tablename__ = "fruit"
    id = Column(Integer, primary_key=True)

# Soft-delete: session.query(Fruit).all() excludes deleted rows
fruit.delete()
# Include deleted: session.query(Fruit).execution_options(include_deleted=True).all()

Package facts

Evidence: sqlalchemy_easy_softdelete-0.9.1-py3-none-any.whl

Tags

More Database packages

See also django-soft-delete · django-safedelete · sqlalchemy-filters · sqlalchemy-mixins · SQLAlchemy-Continuum · sqlalchemy-repr · sqlalchemy-serializer · mock-alchemy · sqlalchemy-json · alchemy-mock