communities.leave()

Removes the authenticated user from a specified community.

Syntax

async leave(communityId: number): Promise<CommunityResponseModel>

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
communityId	number	Yes	The unique identifier of the community to leave

Return Value

Returns a Promise<CommunityResponseModel> containing the updated community information with the user removed from membership. See the get() method documentation for details on the CommunityResponseModel structure.

Examples

Basic Usage

import { StackOverflowSDK } from 'so-teams-sdk';

const sdk = new StackOverflowSDK({
  accessToken: 'your-access-token',
  baseUrl: 'https://[your-site].stackenterprise.co/api/v3'
});

// Leave a community
const community = await sdk.communities.leave(123);
console.log(`Successfully left "${community.name}"`);
console.log(`Community now has ${community.memberCount} members`);

Leave with Confirmation

async function leaveCommunityWithConfirmation(communityId: number) {
  try {
    // Get community details first
    const communityInfo = await sdk.communities.get(communityId);

    console.log(`About to leave: "${communityInfo.name}"`);
    console.log(`Current members: ${communityInfo.memberCount}`);
    console.log(`Your membership will be removed`);

    // Confirm leaving (in a real app, you'd show a dialog)
    const confirmed = true; // Replace with actual confirmation logic

    if (confirmed) {
      const leftCommunity = await sdk.communities.leave(communityId);
      console.log(`✅ Successfully left "${leftCommunity.name}"`);
      console.log(`Community now has ${leftCommunity.memberCount} members`);
      return leftCommunity;
    } else {
      console.log('Leave cancelled');
      return null;
    }
  } catch (error) {
    console.error('Failed to leave community:', error.message);
    throw error;
  }
}

const leaveResult = await leaveCommunityWithConfirmation(123);

Strategic Community Cleanup

async function cleanupCommunityMemberships() {
  try {
    // Get all communities to analyze current memberships
    const allCommunities = await sdk.communities.getAll({
      pageSize: 100
    });

    // Identify communities to leave based on criteria
    const communitiesToLeave = [];

    for (const community of allCommunities.items) {
      try {
        // Get detailed info for each community
        const detailedCommunity = await sdk.communities.get(community.id);

        // Define leaving criteria
        const shouldLeave = evaluateLeavingCriteria(detailedCommunity);

        if (shouldLeave.leave) {
          communitiesToLeave.push({
            id: detailedCommunity.id,
            name: detailedCommunity.name,
            reason: shouldLeave.reason,
            memberCount: detailedCommunity.memberCount
          });
        }
      } catch (error) {
        console.warn(`Could not analyze community ${community.id}:`, error.message);
      }
    }

    console.log(`Found ${communitiesToLeave.length} communities to leave`);

    // Leave identified communities
    const leaveResults = [];
    for (const community of communitiesToLeave) {
      try {
        const leftCommunity = await sdk.communities.leave(community.id);
        leaveResults.push({
          ...community,
          status: 'left',
          finalMemberCount: leftCommunity.memberCount
        });
        console.log(`✅ Left: ${community.name} (${community.reason})`);
      } catch (error) {
        leaveResults.push({
          ...community,
          status: 'failed',
          error: error.message
        });
        console.error(`❌ Failed to leave ${community.name}:`, error.message);
      }
    }

    return {
      analyzed: allCommunities.items.length,
      identified: communitiesToLeave.length,
      results: leaveResults
    };
  } catch (error) {
    console.error('Failed to cleanup community memberships:', error.message);
    throw error;
  }
}

function evaluateLeavingCriteria(community: any): { leave: boolean; reason: string } {
  const memberCount = community.memberCount || 0;

  // Leave if community is too large and impersonal
  if (memberCount > 5000) {
    return { leave: true, reason: 'too large - over 5000 members' };
  }

  // Leave if community is inactive (very small)
  if (memberCount < 3) {
    return { leave: true, reason: 'inactive - less than 3 members' };
  }

  // Leave if no description (poor maintenance)
  if (!community.description || community.description.length < 10) {
    return { leave: true, reason: 'poorly maintained - no description' };
  }

  // Leave if no relevant tags
  const hasRelevantTags = community.tags?.some((tag: any) =>
    ['javascript', 'typescript', 'react', 'development', 'programming'].includes(tag.name?.toLowerCase())
  );

  if (!hasRelevantTags && (community.tags?.length || 0) > 0) {
    return { leave: true, reason: 'not relevant - no matching interests' };
  }

  return { leave: false, reason: 'keeping - meets criteria' };
}

const cleanupResults = await cleanupCommunityMemberships();
console.log(`Cleanup completed: Left ${cleanupResults.results.filter(r => r.status === 'left').length} communities`);

Leave Multiple Communities

async function leaveMultipleCommunities(communityIds: number[]) {
  const results = [];

  for (const communityId of communityIds) {
    try {
      const community = await sdk.communities.leave(communityId);
      results.push({
        communityId,
        name: community.name,
        status: 'left',
        remainingMembers: community.memberCount
      });
      console.log(`✅ Left: ${community.name}`);

      // Add delay to avoid rate limiting
      await new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, 1000));
    } catch (error) {
      results.push({
        communityId,
        status: 'failed',
        error: error.message
      });
      console.error(`❌ Failed to leave community ${communityId}:`, error.message);
    }
  }

  const successful = results.filter(r => r.status === 'left');
  const failed = results.filter(r => r.status === 'failed');

  console.log(`\nSummary: Left ${successful.length} communities, ${failed.length} failed`);

  return results;
}

const multiLeaveResults = await leaveMultipleCommunities([123, 456, 789]);

Leave with Data Backup

async function leaveCommunityWithBackup(communityId: number) {
  try {
    // Create backup of community information before leaving
    const communityInfo = await sdk.communities.get(communityId);

    const membershipBackup = {
      communityId: communityInfo.id,
      communityName: communityInfo.name,
      description: communityInfo.description,
      memberCount: communityInfo.memberCount,
      tags: communityInfo.tags?.map(tag => tag.name) || [],
      leftDate: new Date().toISOString(),
      reason: 'user_initiated'
    };

    // Store backup (replace with your backup mechanism)
    console.log('Membership backup created:', JSON.stringify(membershipBackup, null, 2));

    // Leave the community
    const leftCommunity = await sdk.communities.leave(communityId);

    return {
      success: true,
      backup: membershipBackup,
      community: leftCommunity,
      message: `Left "${leftCommunity.name}" and created backup`
    };
  } catch (error) {
    console.error('Failed to leave community with backup:', error.message);
    return {
      success: false,
      error: error.message
    };
  }
}

const leaveWithBackup = await leaveCommunityWithBackup(123);
if (leaveWithBackup.success) {
  console.log(leaveWithBackup.message);
}

Conditional Leave Based on Activity

async function leaveInactiveCommunities(inactivityThreshold: number = 1000) {
  try {
    // Get all communities
    const allCommunities = await sdk.communities.getAll({
      pageSize: 100,
      sort: 'size',
      order: 'asc' // Start with smallest communities
    });

    const inactiveCommunities = allCommunities.items.filter(community =>
      (community.memberCount || 0) < inactivityThreshold
    );

    console.log(`Found ${inactiveCommunities.length} communities with less than ${inactivityThreshold} members`);

    const leaveResults = [];

    for (const community of inactiveCommunities) {
      try {
        // Get additional details
        const detailedCommunity = await sdk.communities.get(community.id);

        // Additional checks for inactivity
        const isReallyInactive = (
          (detailedCommunity.memberCount || 0) < inactivityThreshold &&
          (!detailedCommunity.description || detailedCommunity.description.length < 20)
        );

        if (isReallyInactive) {
          const leftCommunity = await sdk.communities.leave(community.id);
          leaveResults.push({
            id: community.id,
            name: leftCommunity.name,
            status: 'left',
            finalMemberCount: leftCommunity.memberCount,
            reason: 'inactive'
          });
          console.log(`✅ Left inactive community: ${leftCommunity.name}`);
        } else {
          leaveResults.push({
            id: community.id,
            name: detailedCommunity.name,
            status: 'kept',
            reason: 'has_description'
          });
        }
      } catch (error) {
        leaveResults.push({
          id: community.id,
          status: 'failed',
          error: error.message
        });
        console.error(`❌ Failed to process community ${community.id}:`, error.message);
      }
    }

    return {
      threshold: inactivityThreshold,
      candidatesFound: inactiveCommunities.length,
      results: leaveResults,
      leftCount: leaveResults.filter(r => r.status === 'left').length
    };
  } catch (error) {
    console.error('Failed to leave inactive communities:', error.message);
    throw error;
  }
}

const inactiveCleanup = await leaveInactiveCommunities(50);
console.log(`Left ${inactiveCleanup.leftCount} inactive communities`);

Error Handling

This method can throw the following errors:

Error Type	Status Code	Description
AuthenticationError	401	Invalid or missing authentication token
TokenExpiredError	401	Authentication token has expired
ForbiddenError	403	Cannot leave community (not a member, restricted leaving, etc.)
NotFoundError	404	Community with the specified ID does not exist
SDKError	Various	Other API or network errors

Example Error Handling

import StackOverflowSDK, { NotFoundError, ForbiddenError } from 'so-teams-sdk';

const sdk = new StackOverflowSDK({
  accessToken: 'your-access-token',
  baseUrl: 'https://[your-site].stackenterprise.co/api/v3'
});

try {
  const community = await sdk.communities.leave(123);
  console.log(`Successfully left "${community.name}"`);
  console.log(`Community now has ${community.memberCount} members`);
} catch (error) {
  if (error instanceof NotFoundError) {
    console.error('Community not found - it may have been deleted');
  } else if (error instanceof ForbiddenError) {
    if (error.message.includes('not a member')) {
      console.error('You are not a member of this community');
    } else {
      console.error('Cannot leave community - leaving may be restricted');
    }
  } else {
    console.error('Failed to leave community:', error.message);
  }
}

Safe Leave with Status Check

async function safeLeaveCommunity(communityId: number) {
  try {
    const community = await sdk.communities.leave(communityId);
    return {
      success: true,
      community,
      message: `Successfully left "${community.name}"`
    };
  } catch (error) {
    if (error instanceof ForbiddenError) {
      if (error.message.includes('not a member')) {
        return {
          success: false,
          reason: 'not_member',
          message: 'You are not a member of this community'
        };
      } else {
        return {
          success: false,
          reason: 'cannot_leave',
          message: 'Cannot leave community - leaving may be restricted'
        };
      }
    } else if (error instanceof NotFoundError) {
      return {
        success: false,
        reason: 'not_found',
        message: 'Community not found'
      };
    }
    return {
      success: false,
      reason: 'error',
      message: error.message
    };
  }
}

const leaveResult = await safeLeaveCommunity(123);
if (leaveResult.success) {
  console.log('✅', leaveResult.message);
} else {
  console.log('❌', leaveResult.message);
}

Notes

• This method removes the authenticated user from the specified community
• The returned community object reflects updated member information
• Attempting to leave a community you’re not a member of will result in a ForbiddenError
• Some communities may have restrictions on leaving (e.g., required membership)
• The method operates on the Main Site (Enterprise only)
• Member count is automatically decremented when users leave
• The user will lose access to community-specific content and discussions
• Consider using leaveAsMember() for clearer semantic meaning in your code
• Leaving a community is typically irreversible through the API - rejoining would require a separate join() call
• The updated community response excludes the leaving user from the members array if detailed member data is available