> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.keyplar.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Deactivate a license

> POST /api/v1/licenses/deactivate — release a seat so the customer can use it elsewhere.

<ParamField header="Authorization" type="string" required>
  `Bearer ak_…` — see [Authentication](/api-reference/introduction#authentication).
</ParamField>

```
POST /api/v1/licenses/deactivate
```

Releases one activation, freeing a seat against the license's activation limit. Call it when your
software is uninstalled, signed out of, or moved to another machine.

## Body

<ParamField body="licenseKey" type="string" required>
  The customer's license key.
</ParamField>

<ParamField body="instanceId" type="string" required>
  The activation to release — the `instance.id` you stored when you
  [activated](/api-reference/licenses/activate). Must be a UUID.
</ParamField>

## Response

Always `200 OK` when the request itself is well-formed. Read `deactivated`.

<ResponseField name="deactivated" type="boolean">
  Whether the seat was released.
</ResponseField>

<ResponseField name="error" type="string | null">
  Why not, when `deactivated` is `false`.
</ResponseField>

<ResponseField name="instance" type="null">
  Always `null` here — the activation no longer exists.
</ResponseField>

Plus the standard [context block](/api-reference/introduction#how-responses-work), with
`license.activationUsage` already reduced.

## Why a deactivation can fail

| `error`                      | What happened                                                            |
| ---------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| `Invalid license key`        | No such key in this store                                                |
| `License instance not found` | The activation doesn't belong to this key, or it was already deactivated |

<Note>
  Deactivation works even when the license itself is expired, disabled or revoked. Someone
  uninstalling after their subscription lapsed still gets their seat cleaned up.
</Note>

## Idempotency

Deactivating an activation that's already gone returns `deactivated: false` with `License
instance not found`. That's usually fine to ignore — the seat is free either way, which is what
you wanted.

<RequestExample>
  ```bash cURL theme={null}
  curl -X POST https://yourstore.keyplar.com/api/v1/licenses/deactivate \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer ak_your_key_here" \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    -d '{
      "licenseKey": "ACME-4F3A-9C21-BE77",
      "instanceId": "9b3e7d15-2c48-4f6a-8e01-7a5c3b9d2e64"
    }'
  ```

  ```js Node.js theme={null}
  const res = await fetch(
    "https://yourstore.keyplar.com/api/v1/licenses/deactivate",
    {
      method: "POST",
      headers: {
        Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.KEYPLAR_API_KEY}`,
        "Content-Type": "application/json",
      },
      body: JSON.stringify({
        licenseKey: storedKey,
        instanceId: storedInstanceId,
      }),
    },
  );

  const data = await res.json();

  if (data.deactivated) {
    clearStoredLicense();
  }
  ```

  ```python Python theme={null}
  import os
  import requests

  res = requests.post(
      "https://yourstore.keyplar.com/api/v1/licenses/deactivate",
      headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['KEYPLAR_API_KEY']}"},
      json={"licenseKey": stored_key, "instanceId": stored_instance_id},
      timeout=10,
  )
  res.raise_for_status()

  if res.json()["deactivated"]:
      clear_stored_license()
  ```
</RequestExample>

<ResponseExample>
  ```json Deactivated theme={null}
  {
    "deactivated": true,
    "error": null,
    "license": {
      "key": "ACME-4F3A-9C21-BE77",
      "status": "active",
      "activationLimit": 3,
      "activationUsage": 1,
      "expiresAt": null,
      "createdAt": "2026-02-11T09:14:22.481Z"
    },
    "instance": null,
    "order": { "id": "0195c1f4-8a2d-7c31-b6e9-4f8a2d0195c1", "status": "paid" },
    "product": { "id": "0195c1f4-8a2d-7c31-b6e9-4f8a2d019500", "name": "Acme Editor Pro" },
    "customer": { "id": "0195c1f4-8a2d-7c31-b6e9-4f8a2d0194aa", "email": "sam@example.com" },
    "benefit": { "id": "0195c1f4-8a2d-7c31-b6e9-4f8a2d0193bb", "name": "Pro license", "type": "license" }
  }
  ```

  ```json Not found theme={null}
  {
    "deactivated": false,
    "error": "License instance not found",
    "license": {
      "key": "ACME-4F3A-9C21-BE77",
      "status": "active",
      "activationLimit": 3,
      "activationUsage": 2,
      "expiresAt": null,
      "createdAt": "2026-02-11T09:14:22.481Z"
    },
    "instance": null,
    "order": { "id": "0195c1f4-8a2d-7c31-b6e9-4f8a2d0195c1", "status": "paid" },
    "product": { "id": "0195c1f4-8a2d-7c31-b6e9-4f8a2d019500", "name": "Acme Editor Pro" },
    "customer": { "id": "0195c1f4-8a2d-7c31-b6e9-4f8a2d0194aa", "email": "sam@example.com" },
    "benefit": { "id": "0195c1f4-8a2d-7c31-b6e9-4f8a2d0193bb", "name": "Pro license", "type": "license" }
  }
  ```
</ResponseExample>