diff --git a/cmd/delete.go b/cmd/delete.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..85dbd71
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/delete.go
@@ -0,0 +1,123 @@
+package cmd
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"net/http"
+
+	"git.towk2.me/towk/makeshift/pkg/client"
+	"github.com/rs/zerolog/log"
+	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
+)
+
+var deleteCmd = &cobra.Command{
+	Use: "delete",
+	Example: `
+  # set up environment
+  export MAKESHIFT_HOST=http://localhost:5050
+  export MAKESHIFT_PATH=test
+
+  # delete a file or directory (cannot delete root)
+  makeshift delete -p help.txt 
+  makeshift delete --host http://localhost:5555 --path templates
+`,
+	Short: "Delete files and directories",
+	PersistentPreRun: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
+		setenv(cmd, "host", "MAKESHIFT_HOST")
+		setenv(cmd, "path", "MAKESHIFT_PATH")
+	},
+	Run: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
+		var (
+			host, _  = cmd.Flags().GetString("host")
+			paths, _ = cmd.Flags().GetStringSlice("path")
+
+			c     = client.New(host)
+			res   *http.Response
+			query string
+			err   error
+		)
+		for _, path := range paths {
+			if path == "" {
+				log.Warn().Msg("skipping empty path")
+				continue
+			}
+
+			query = fmt.Sprintf("/delete/%s?", path)
+			res, _, err = c.MakeRequest(client.HTTPEnvelope{
+				Path:   query,
+				Method: http.MethodDelete,
+			})
+			handleResponseError(res, host, query, err)
+		}
+	},
+}
+
+var deleteProfilesCmd = &cobra.Command{
+	Use: "profiles",
+	Example: `
+  # delete profile(s) by its ID
+  makeshift delete profiles kubernetes slurm compute
+`,
+	Args:  cobra.MinimumNArgs(1),
+	Short: "Delete profile(s)",
+	Run: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
+		var (
+			host, _ = cmd.Flags().GetString("host")
+
+			c     = client.New(host)
+			res   *http.Response
+			query string
+			err   error
+		)
+
+		for _, profileID := range args {
+			if profileID == "default" {
+				log.Warn().Msg("cannot delete the default profile")
+				continue
+			}
+
+			query = fmt.Sprintf("/profiles/%s", profileID)
+			res, _, err = c.MakeRequest(client.HTTPEnvelope{
+				Path:   query,
+				Method: http.MethodDelete,
+			})
+			handleResponseError(res, host, query, err)
+		}
+	},
+}
+
+var deletePluginsCmd = &cobra.Command{
+	Use: "plugins",
+	Example: `
+  # delete plugin(s) by name
+  makeshift delete plugins weather slurm user
+`,
+	Args:  cobra.MinimumNArgs(1),
+	Short: "Delete plugin(s)",
+	Run: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
+		var (
+			host, _ = cmd.Flags().GetString("host")
+
+			c     = client.New(host)
+			res   *http.Response
+			query string
+			err   error
+		)
+
+		for _, pluginName := range args {
+			query = fmt.Sprintf("/plugins/%s", pluginName)
+			res, _, err = c.MakeRequest(client.HTTPEnvelope{
+				Path:   query,
+				Method: http.MethodDelete,
+			})
+			handleResponseError(res, host, query, err)
+		}
+	},
+}
+
+func init() {
+	deleteCmd.PersistentFlags().String("host", "http://localhost:5050", "Set the makeshift server host (can be set with MAKESHIFT_HOST)")
+	deleteCmd.Flags().StringSliceP("path", "p", []string{}, "Set the paths to delete files and directories")
+	deleteCmd.AddCommand(deleteProfilesCmd, deletePluginsCmd)
+
+	rootCmd.AddCommand(deleteCmd)
+}