How Deletions & Archiving Work

Last updated: May 29, 2026

The short version

SmartRec deletes will never hard-delete records in HubSpot. Instead, the integration archives them or moves them to an archived stage. This keeps your HubSpot history intact and prevents accidental data loss.

What happens for each delete

SmartRec event

HubSpot action

Account Delete

Find the contact(s) by smartrec_person_id → set smartrec_is_archived = true → remove the organization branch from smartrec_organization

Person Delete

Find the contact by smartrec_person_id → set smartrec_is_archived = true → remove the organization branch from smartrec_organization

MembershipPurchased Delete

Find the deal by smartrec_subscription_id → move it to your configured "Membership Archived" stage in the default pipeline

Activity Delete

Find the course by smartrec_activity_id → archive the course in HubSpot

Why archive instead of delete?

  • Reporting integrity. Past transactions, registrations, and memberships remain visible for historical reports.

  • Recovery. If a record is deleted in SmartRec by mistake, the corresponding HubSpot record can still be found and unarchived.

  • Multi-org safety. In a network, removing a contact from one branch shouldn't erase their entire history at other branches. The integration removes only the branch in question from smartrec_organization.

What gets skipped vs. processed

During upsert (Create or Update) processing, the integration checks whether the matching HubSpot record is already archived. If it is, the integration skips the record rather than recreating it or returning a failure. This prevents accidental "resurrection" of records you've intentionally archived in HubSpot.

How to find archived records

In HubSpot:

  • Contacts: Build a list filtered by smartrec_is_archived = true (or filter by smartrec_organization is empty if you removed all branches).

  • Deals: Filter by dealstage = Membership Archived to find archived membership purchases.

  • Courses: Use HubSpot's standard "Archived" view (HubSpot tracks archive state natively).

Things to know

  • There's no automatic deletion process. Even after a year, archived SmartRec records aren't purged from HubSpot. If you need to bulk-delete archived records, you'll do that manually in HubSpot.

  • MultiPass deletes are not webhook events. The MultiPassPurchased webhook only fires on Create. MultiPass-related cleanup happens through the daily scheduled sync of the App Object catalog, where archived products get a27939345_is_archived = true.

  • Donation deletes are not handled. The DonationPurchased webhook only fires on Create. If a donation is voided in SmartRec, you'll need to update the HubSpot deal manually.

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