Configurable batch deletion of Mastodon bookmarks (using Mastodon API). MIT Licensed. Edit the configuration at the top of the file and then run via `node delete-bookmark.js`. The script uses various delays to help with API throttling and generally be a good netizen...

delete-bookmarks.js

import { writeFile } from "node:fs/promises";

// your account domain
const DOMAIN = "mastodon.social";
// your API access token
const ACCESS_TOKEN = "TODO";

// directory path for storing JSON backups of deleted bookmarks
const BACKUP_DIR = "backup/20260901";

// only remove older bookmarks
const THRESHOLD_DATE = "2026-09-01";

// set to null to start at newest
const MAX_ID = null;

// predefined HTTP headers
const HEADERS = { Authorization: `Bearer ${ACCESS_TOKEN}` };

// don't delete bookmarks from those accounts
// (all accounts must be lowercase)
const KEEP_ACCOUNTS = [
	"toxi", // your local account name
	"toxi@mastodon.thi.ng", // full account name
	// others
	// ...
];

// keep posts with these tags
const KEEP_TAGS = [
	"art",
	"opensource",
	"silentsunday",
	// ...
];

// https://docs.joinmastodon.org/methods/bookmarks/
// https://docs.joinmastodon.org/api/guidelines/#pagination

let pagination = MAX_ID ? `max_id=${MAX_ID}` : "";

const sleep = (x) =>
	new Promise((resolve) => {
		console.log("sleep", x);
		setTimeout(resolve, x * 1000);
	});

const processPost = async (post) => {
	if (post.created_at >= THRESHOLD_DATE) return;
	if (KEEP_ACCOUNTS.includes(post.account.acct.toLowerCase())) return;
	if (post.tags.some((tag) => KEEP_TAGS.includes(tag.name.toLowerCase())))
		return;
	console.log(
		"removing bookmark:",
		post.created_at,
		post.account.acct,
		"\n",
		post.url,
		"\n",
		post.content,
	);
	await backupPost(post);
	for (let i = 1; i <= 5; i++) {
		try {
			const res = await fetch(
				`https://${DOMAIN}/api/v1/statuses/${post.id}/unbookmark`,
				{ method: "POST", headers: HEADERS },
			);
			if (res.ok) return true;
			console.log(res);
		} catch (e) {
			console.warn(e.message);
		}
		await sleep(i * 5);
	}
};

const backupPost = (post) =>
	writeFile(
		`${BACKUP_DIR}/${post.id}.json`,
		JSON.stringify({
			date: post.created_at,
			user: post.account.acct,
			url: post.url,
			body: post.content,
			tags: post.tags,
		}),
	);

let total = 0;

while (true) {
	console.log("fetching bookmarks", pagination);
	const resp = await fetch(
		`https://${DOMAIN}/api/v1/bookmarks?limit=40&${pagination}`,
		{
			headers: HEADERS,
		},
	);

	const posts = await resp.json();
	console.log("loaded", posts.length, "bookmarks, ", posts[0].created_at);

	let num = 0;
	for (let post of posts) {
		if (await processPost(post)) {
			await sleep(1);
			num++;
		}
	}
	total += num;
	console.log("removed bookmarks", num, "total", total);

	const pageInfo = /max_id=\d+/.exec(resp.headers.get("link"));
	if (!pageInfo) break;

	pagination = pageInfo[0];
	await sleep(num ? 10 : 2);
}