This how-to covers archiving a Pleo Vendor whose corresponding AS vendor is no longer active, or no longer exists.
Run this after [How to Fetch and Match Vendors](/docs/current/how-tos/accounting-integrations/imports/vendors/how-to-fetch-and-match-vendors) found a Pleo Vendor with no matching active AS vendor.
## Prerequisites
Before you begin:
* You have completed [How to Fetch and Match Vendors](/docs/current/how-tos/accounting-integrations/imports/vendors/how-to-fetch-and-match-vendors) and confirmed a Pleo Vendor has no matching active AS vendor
* Your integration is authenticated using one of the [supported authentication methods](/docs/current/integration-design/auth/integration-design-auth-overview#authentication-policy-overview)
* Your integration can call Pleo's Vendors API endpoints
## Scenario
This how-to continues from the [How to Fetch and Match Vendors](/docs/current/how-tos/accounting-integrations/imports/vendors/how-to-fetch-and-match-vendors) scenario: "Old Print Shop" (EXT-005) is active in Pleo, but no longer active in the AS.
## Steps
Run this call inside your per-company concurrency lock, shared with Vendor Creation. See [How to Create Vendors](/docs/current/how-tos/accounting-integrations/imports/vendors/how-to-create-vendors#steps) for what this prevents and why every write in this suite needs it.
### 1. Archive the Vendor
**API Endpoint**: POST [`/v1/vendors/{id}:archive`](/reference/external-vendors/archive-a-vendor)
Do not delete Vendors. Archiving is non-destructive and reversible.
`activeASVendors` here must be the filtered set from [Step 1 of How to Fetch and Match Vendors](/docs/current/how-tos/accounting-integrations/imports/vendors/how-to-fetch-and-match-vendors#1-retrieve-active-vendors-from-the-accounting-system), the one that already excludes AS records skipped for an empty or duplicate `externalId`.
Don't archive a Pleo Vendor just because its AS record was skipped for a data integrity reason. That's not the same as the AS record being confirmed inactive or gone.
Archiving it anyway risks losing state for a vendor that's still genuinely active in the AS.
Don't archive a Vendor the first time it appears unmatched.
A successful fetch can still be incomplete: replica lag, concurrent AS-side edits, or pagination drift can all make a Vendor look unmatched when it isn't. Require the same Vendor to be unmatched across at least two consecutive sync runs before archiving it.
`unmatchedSinceLastRun`, used in the example below, must be a persisted set, for example a database table keyed on `externalId`, not an in-memory variable. If it resets on every run, this safeguard never triggers, and every unmatched Vendor gets archived on its first unmatched appearance.
**Example Pseudo:**
```pseudo theme={null}
activeASExternalIds = activeASVendors.map(v => v.externalId)
for vendor in pleoVendors where state == "ACTIVE":
if vendor.externalId not in activeASExternalIds:
if vendor.externalId in unmatchedSinceLastRun:
POST /v1/vendors/{vendor.id}:archive
else:
unmatchedSinceLastRun.add(vendor.externalId)
else:
unmatchedSinceLastRun.discard(vendor.externalId)
```
The "Old Print Shop" Vendor is archived in this example.
```bash theme={null}
curl -X POST "https://external.staging.pleo.io/v1/vendors/a1b2c3d4-e567-890e-1234-abc56e78fabc:archive" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer "
```
```bash theme={null}
curl --request POST \
-u "pls_1ab2cd3e4f5g6h7a89b012c34de56f78_gabc90:" \
-H "Accept: application/json;charset=UTF-8" \
"https://external.staging.pleo.io/v1/vendors/a1b2c3d4-e567-890e-1234-abc56e78fabc:archive"
```
This endpoint returns `204 No Content` on success. The Vendor's `state` is now `ARCHIVED`.
#### What it looks like in Pleo Web App
1. Select **Accounting** from the main left-hand navigation.
2. Select **Export** from the sub-menu.
3. Click on a row to open the details panel for that expense.
4. Select the **Vendor** drop-down menu and type "Old Print" to search.
"Old Print Shop" no longer appears in the Vendor field on an expense, confirming it was archived and excluded from active search results.
***
## Handling Edge Cases
**Vendor is already `ARCHIVED`:** treat the call as a no-op rather than an error. This can happen if a previous sync run partially completed. See [Handling Edge Cases](/docs/current/how-tos/accounting-integrations/imports/vendors/how-to-create-vendors#handling-edge-cases) on How to Create Vendors for partial-failure and unknown-outcome handling, which applies here too.
***
## Result
| Vendor | AS Status | Pleo State Before | Action | Final Pleo State |
| ------------------------ | --------- | ----------------- | -------- | ---------------- |
| Old Print Shop (EXT-005) | Not in AS | Active | Archived | Archived |
***
## What Comes Next?
Vendor Sync Workflow Guide
***
