list_lru_del(9)

💅 list_lru_del — deleting things from the LRU list, but make it a whole vibe ✨

okay bestie, so this is a page from the Kernel API Manual, and we're talking about list_lru_del(9) — your new favorite way to take an element OUT of the lru list. no cap, it's lowkey iconic. 🎀

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🌸 NAME 🌸

list_lru_del — delete an element from the lru list. literally that's it, she does one thing and she does it well 💖

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✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

bool list_lru_del (struct list_lru *lru , struct list_head *item , int
nid , struct mem_cgroup *memcg );

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🦋 ARGUMENTS 🦋

• lru — the lru pointer. main character energy tbh 🫶
• item — the item to be deleted. bye bestie 👋
• nid — the node id of the sublist to delete the item from. gotta know which sublist we're dealing with 💅
• memcg — the cgroup of the sublist to delete the item from. keep up with the groups fr fr

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🔥 DESCRIPTION 🔥

So this function works analogously as list_lru_add in terms of list manipulation. same vibe, opposite direction, iykyk 💜

And here's the tea: the comments in list_lru_add about an element already being in a list are also valid for list_lru_del. that means you can delete an item that has already been removed or never been added. chaotic but it's fine, no notes 😭

BUT (yes there's a but, there's always a but 🙈) — if the item is in a list, it must be in this list, and you must pass the right value of nid and memcg so that the right sublist is used. wrong sublist = wrong vibe = not slay 💀

Now listen up because this part matters: you must ensure that the memcg is not freed during this call (e.g., with rcu or by taking a css refcnt). this is not the moment to get sloppy, bestie 🚨

When a memcg is deleted, list_lru entries are automatically moved to the parent memcg. This is done in a race-free way, so during deletion of an memcg both the old and new memcg will resolve to the same sublist internally. like a glow-up where the old and new version are secretly the same girlie — iconic behavior 🌈

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⭐ RETURN ⭐

• true if the list was updated 🎉
• false otherwise 🙃

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🧚 SEE ALSO 🧚

Kernel file ./include/linux/list_lru.h and its whole friend group:

• folio_memcg_list_lru_alloc(9)
• list_lru_lock(9)
• list_lru_unlock(9)
• list_lru_add(9)
• list_lru_add_obj(9)
• list_lru_del_obj(9)
• list_lru_count_one(9)
• list_lru_walk_one(9)
• list_lru_walk_one_irq(9)

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okay that's the whole page, go forth and delete responsibly 🍓💅

from ./include/linux — October 2026 edition — mwah, ily, see u in the kernel 🫶✨