nodetool forcecompact

Cassandra 5.0+

This command is available in Cassandra 5.0 and later.

Forces compaction of SSTables containing specified partition keys, ignoring gc_grace_seconds.

Synopsis

nodetool [connection_options] forcecompact <keyspace> <table> <keys>...

See connection options for connection options.

Description

nodetool forcecompact forces compaction of SSTables containing the specified partition keys. Unlike regular compaction, this command ignores gc_grace_seconds when purging tombstones, allowing immediate removal of deleted data for specific partitions.

Use With Caution

This command ignores gc_grace_seconds, which means tombstones may be removed before they have propagated to all replicas. Use only when you are certain all replicas have seen the deletions, or after running repair.

Arguments

Argument	Description
`keyspace`	Target keyspace
`table`	Target table
`keys`	Partition keys to force compact

Examples

Force Compact Specific Partition Keys

nodetool forcecompact my_keyspace my_table user123 user456

When to Use

Remove Tombstones Immediately

# After ensuring all replicas have seen deletions
nodetool repair my_keyspace my_table

# Force compact specific partitions to remove tombstones
nodetool forcecompact my_keyspace my_table partition_key_value

Command	Relationship
compact	General compaction
compactionstats	View compaction status
getsstables	List SSTables for key