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+# API Clean Regeneration Design
+
+**Goal:** Add clean regeneration to `generate-openapi-articles.ts` to prevent stale files from accumulating when tags are renamed or removed.
+
+**Problem:** When OpenAPI tags are renamed (e.g., "Cache data" → "Cache distinct values" + "Cache last value"), old generated files persist alongside new ones, causing navigation confusion and stale content.
+
+***
+
+## CLI Interface
+
+**New flags:**
+
+| Flag         | Description                                          |
+| ------------ | ---------------------------------------------------- |
+| `--no-clean` | Skip directory cleanup (preserve existing files)     |
+| `--dry-run`  | Show what would be deleted without actually deleting |
+
+**Behavior:**
+
+- Default is to clean before generating (no flag needed)
+- `--dry-run` implies `--no-clean` (shows deletions but doesn't execute or generate)
+- Existing flags (`--validate-links`, `--skip-fetch`) continue to work
+
+**Usage examples:**
+
+```bash
+# Default: clean and regenerate all products
+node generate-openapi-articles.js
+
+# Clean and regenerate specific product
+node generate-openapi-articles.js influxdb3_core
+
+# Preview what would be deleted
+node generate-openapi-articles.js --dry-run
+
+# Preserve existing files (legacy behavior)
+node generate-openapi-articles.js --no-clean
+```
+
+***
+
+## Directories Cleaned Per Product
+
+For each product (e.g., `influxdb3_core`), the following are cleaned:
+
+| Location      | Pattern                                            | Example                                      |
+| ------------- | -------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------- |
+| Tag specs     | `static/openapi/{staticDirName}/`                  | `static/openapi/influxdb3-core/`             |
+| Root specs    | `static/openapi/{staticDirName}-*.yml` and `.json` | `static/openapi/influxdb3-core-ref.yml`      |
+| Article data  | `data/article_data/influxdb/{productKey}/`         | `data/article_data/influxdb/influxdb3_core/` |
+| Content pages | `content/{pagesDir}/api/`                          | `content/influxdb3/core/api/`                |
+
+**Boundaries:**
+
+- Only cleans the `api/` subdirectory within content, not the entire product
+- Only cleans files matching the product's `staticDirName` pattern
+- Never touches other products' files
+- Multi-spec products (cloud-dedicated, clustered) clean all spec variants
+
+***
+
+## Dry-Run Output Format
+
+```
+$ node generate-openapi-articles.js influxdb3_core --dry-run
+
+DRY RUN: Would clean the following for influxdb3_core:
+
+Directories to remove:
+  - static/openapi/influxdb3-core/
+  - data/article_data/influxdb/influxdb3_core/
+  - content/influxdb3/core/api/
+
+Files to remove:
+  - static/openapi/influxdb3-core-ref.yml
+  - static/openapi/influxdb3-core-ref.json
+
+Summary: 3 directories, 2 files would be removed
+
+Skipping generation (dry-run mode).
+```
+
+***
+
+## Code Structure
+
+**File modified:** `api-docs/scripts/generate-openapi-articles.ts`
+
+**New CLI flag parsing:**
+
+```typescript
+const noClean = process.argv.includes('--no-clean');
+const dryRun = process.argv.includes('--dry-run');
+```
+
+**New functions:**
+
+```typescript
+/**
+ * Get all paths that would be cleaned for a product
+ */
+function getCleanupPaths(productKey: string, config: ProductConfig): {
+  directories: string[];
+  files: string[];
+}
+
+/**
+ * Clean output directories for a product before regeneration
+ */
+function cleanProductOutputs(productKey: string, config: ProductConfig): void
+
+/**
+ * Display dry-run preview of what would be cleaned
+ */
+function showDryRunPreview(productKey: string, config: ProductConfig): void
+```
+
+**Changes to `processProduct()`:**
+
+```typescript
+function processProduct(productKey: string, config: ProductConfig): void {
+  // Clean before generating (unless --no-clean or --dry-run)
+  if (!noClean && !dryRun) {
+    cleanProductOutputs(productKey, config);
+  }
+
+  // Existing generation logic...
+}
+```
+
+**Changes to `main()`:**
+
+```typescript
+function main(): void {
+  // Handle dry-run mode
+  if (dryRun) {
+    productsToProcess.forEach((productKey) => {
+      showDryRunPreview(productKey, productConfigs[productKey]);
+    });
+    console.log('\nDry run complete. No files were modified.');
+    return; // Exit without generating
+  }
+
+  // Existing processing logic...
+}
+```
+
+**No changes to:** `openapi-paths-to-hugo-data/index.ts`
+
+***
+
+## Verification
+
+After implementation:
+
+1. Run `--dry-run` and verify output matches expected format
+2. Run without flags and verify old files are removed
+3. Run with `--no-clean` and verify files are preserved
+4. Verify Hugo build passes after clean regeneration
+5. Verify no stale tag pages appear in navigation