diff --git a/docs/SMOKE_TEST.md b/docs/SMOKE_TEST.md
index d5e8c09..6a0cc87 100644
--- a/docs/SMOKE_TEST.md
+++ b/docs/SMOKE_TEST.md
@@ -1060,6 +1060,9 @@ and at least one entity tagged on Device A.
 | 7.1 | Open any article via the toolbar icon → reader opens, capture is cached | ✅ |
 | 7.2 | Close the reader, navigate away, then re-capture the original URL | ✅ the reader's archive banner offers the cached copy |
 | 7.3 | DevTools → Application → IndexedDB → `xray-archive` → `articles` | ✅ entry exists for the URL hash |
+| 7.3a | On an open capture with claims, click the 🗑 header button (S4) | ✅ the confirm names the article, counts prior versions, and states what is KEPT (claims/audits by count, published relay events, source bytes) — never a bare "are you sure" |
+| 7.3b | Confirm 7.3a's delete, then re-run 7.3 and re-capture the URL | ✅ the IndexedDB row is gone; claims still list in the reader for the URL; the fresh re-capture starts a NEW row with no prior versions |
+| 7.3c | Options → Advanced → "Clear all X-Ray storage" | ✅ the confirm says SETTINGS only and points at "Start fresh workspace" for content — after confirming, entities/claims/archives are intact, relays/signing key are gone |
 
 ### Paywall fallback
 
diff --git a/src/options/index.js b/src/options/index.js
index 00b9edb..a437c3d 100644
--- a/src/options/index.js
+++ b/src/options/index.js
@@ -946,7 +946,17 @@ async function clearLlmKey() {
 }
 
 async function clearAll() {
-    if (!confirm('Erase all X-Ray settings, entities, the keypair registry, and the local signing key? This cannot be undone.')) return;
+    // The confirm must promise exactly what storageClearExtension
+    // delivers. The old text claimed "entities, the keypair registry"
+    // — but those keys (publications/people/organizations/
+    // keypair_registry) are the LEGACY userscript stores; the modern
+    // workspace (entities, local_keys, claims, the archives) lives
+    // elsewhere and is untouched here. That is what "Start fresh
+    // workspace" (above, Advanced) is for — say so.
+    if (!confirm('Erase X-Ray SETTINGS: relays, preferences, the local signing key, '
+        + 'the LLM API key, feature flags, and legacy userscript-era stores. '
+        + 'Your workspace CONTENT (entities, claims, captured articles, archives) is NOT touched — '
+        + 'use "Start fresh workspace" for that. This cannot be undone. Continue?')) return;
     await storageClearExtension();
     // Reset experimental flags too — otherwise a wipe leaves the
     // public judgment-publishing path enabled.
diff --git a/src/reader/index.html b/src/reader/index.html
index 8a9d288..c1fc8ff 100644
--- a/src/reader/index.html
+++ b/src/reader/index.html
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@
       <button class="xr-reader__btn xr-reader__btn--ghost" id="xr-entities" title="Open entity browser in the side panel">
         👤 Entities
       </button>
+      <button class="xr-reader__btn xr-reader__btn--ghost" id="xr-delete-capture" title="Delete the local archived copy of this capture">🗑</button>
       <button class="xr-reader__btn xr-reader__btn--ghost" id="xr-close" title="Close tab">✕</button>
       <button class="xr-reader__btn xr-reader__btn--primary" id="xr-publish" title="Publish to NOSTR">
         Publish
diff --git a/src/reader/index.js b/src/reader/index.js
index c9db849..6746ac0 100644
--- a/src/reader/index.js
+++ b/src/reader/index.js
@@ -600,6 +600,73 @@ function confirmLlmSend(headline, body, actionLabel) {
     });
 }
 
+/**
+ * Delete the local archived copy of the open capture — with an honest
+ * account of what that does and does not remove. The row disappears
+ * from case membership, the corpus list, and the archive banner; the
+ * in-memory capture in this tab is untouched until the tab closes.
+ */
+async function deleteCaptureFlow() {
+    const url = state.article && state.article.url;
+    if (!url) throw new Error('No capture open.');
+    if (state.readOnlyOpen) throw new Error('Read-only view — nothing to delete.');
+
+    // Find the row the load path would find: primary URL, then the
+    // alias-resolved original (a prior capture of the same piece may
+    // key under either address).
+    let rowUrl = url;
+    let row = null;
+    try { row = await ArchiveCache.getArticle(url); } catch (_) { /* absent */ }
+    if (!row) {
+        try {
+            const aliased = await resolveAlias(url);
+            if (aliased && aliased !== url) {
+                row = await ArchiveCache.getArticle(aliased);
+                if (row) rowUrl = aliased;
+            }
+        } catch (_) { /* absent */ }
+    }
+    if (!row) {
+        toast('No local archived copy exists for this URL — nothing to delete.', 'warning', 4000);
+        return;
+    }
+
+    // The honest confirm: what goes, what stays. Counts are the
+    // difference between an informed choice and a guess.
+    const priors = Array.isArray(row.priorVersions) ? row.priorVersions.length : 0;
+    let claimCount = 0;
+    let auditCount = 0;
+    try { claimCount = (await ClaimModel.getBySourceUrl(url)).length; } catch (_) { /* best-effort */ }
+    try {
+        const hashes = [row.articleHash,
+            ...(row.priorVersions || []).map((v) => v && v.articleHash)].filter(Boolean);
+        const runs = [];
+        for (const h of hashes) runs.push(...await AuditRunModel.getByArticleHash(h));
+        auditCount = runs.length;
+    } catch (_) { /* best-effort */ }
+
+    const lines = [
+        `Delete the local archived copy of:\n${row.article && row.article.title ? row.article.title : rowUrl}`,
+        '',
+        `DELETED: the archived copy${priors ? ` and its ${priors} prior version${priors === 1 ? '' : 's'}` : ''}. It disappears from case membership, the corpus, and the archive banner.`,
+        '',
+        'KEPT: '
+        + `${claimCount} claim${claimCount === 1 ? '' : 's'} and ${auditCount} audit run${auditCount === 1 ? '' : 's'} on this URL (they key to the URL/hash, not the copy); `
+        + 'anything already PUBLISHED to relays (relays cannot be forced to delete); '
+        + 'archived source bytes, which the orphan pruner collects later.',
+        '',
+        'This cannot be undone locally. Delete?'
+    ].join('\n');
+    if (!confirm(lines)) return;
+
+    await ArchiveCache.deleteArticle(rowUrl);
+    // Both addresses may hold rows from before the alias was learned —
+    // deleting a missing row is a harmless no-op.
+    if (rowUrl !== url) { try { await ArchiveCache.deleteArticle(url); } catch (_) { /* no-op */ } }
+
+    toast('Local archived copy deleted. This tab still shows the in-memory capture until closed.', 'success', 6000);
+}
+
 /** Minimal modal file picker; resolves with the chosen File. */
 function pickPdfFile(message) {
     return new Promise((resolvePick, rejectPick) => {
@@ -5981,6 +6048,21 @@ async function init() {
         window.close();
     });
 
+    // Delete the LOCAL archived copy (S4 — deleteArticle finally gets a
+    // caller). Scope is deliberately narrow and the confirm says so:
+    // local row + its prior versions only. Claims/assessments/audits
+    // key to the URL/hash in their own stores and survive; published
+    // relay events cannot be deleted from here (NIP-09 requests are
+    // advisory and relays ignore them freely — pretending otherwise
+    // would be dishonest); archived source bytes (PDFs, figures) are
+    // collected by the age-gated orphan pruner once unreferenced.
+    $('#xr-delete-capture').addEventListener('click', () => {
+        deleteCaptureFlow().catch((err) => {
+            toast('Delete failed: ' + ((err && err.message) || err), 'error', 5000);
+        });
+    });
+    if (state.readOnlyOpen) $('#xr-delete-capture').hidden = true;
+
     // Open the entity browser. Three openers, in preference order:
     //   1. browser.sidebarAction.toggle()  — Firefox sidebar
     //   2. chrome.sidePanel.open()         — Chrome / Edge / Brave
diff --git a/tests/archive-cache.test.mjs b/tests/archive-cache.test.mjs
index 2c88c1f..c0c29e9 100644
--- a/tests/archive-cache.test.mjs
+++ b/tests/archive-cache.test.mjs
@@ -302,3 +302,29 @@ test('prune: a re-captured document is protected by a refreshed grace window', a
     assert.ok(await getSourceDocument(HASH),
         'bytes of an in-flight re-capture must survive the pruner');
 });
+
+test('archive: delete removes the row TOGETHER with its prior versions (S4)', async () => {
+    await resetStore();
+    // Two saves with different bodies → the second displaces the first
+    // into priorVersions; delete must take the whole row, snapshot
+    // included — a dangling prior would resurrect "deleted" content.
+    await saveArticle({ article: { url: 'https://example.com/s4', title: 'v1', content: 'first body' } });
+    await saveArticle({ article: { url: 'https://example.com/s4', title: 'v2', content: 'second body, different' } });
+    const before = await getArticle('https://example.com/s4');
+    assert.ok(Array.isArray(before.priorVersions) && before.priorVersions.length === 1,
+        'precondition: the displaced version was snapshotted');
+    await deleteArticle('https://example.com/s4');
+    assert.equal(await getArticle('https://example.com/s4'), null);
+    assert.equal(await hasArticle('https://example.com/s4'), false);
+});
+
+test('archive: deleting an absent row is a harmless no-op (S4)', async () => {
+    await resetStore();
+    await assert.doesNotReject(() => deleteArticle('https://example.com/never-saved'));
+    // And URL-normalization applies: delete by a tracking-param variant
+    // removes the row saved under the canonical form.
+    await saveArticle({ article: { url: 'https://example.com/s4b', title: 'T' } });
+    await deleteArticle('https://example.com/s4b?utm_source=x');
+    assert.equal(await hasArticle('https://example.com/s4b'), false,
+        'delete joins through the same normalizer as save');
+});