Metadata

About 259 wordsLess than 1 minute

Metadata explains how to store key-value annotations on Tags and Commits.

When to use: when a version or commit needs extra information attached — for example recording release notes, a build number, or an approver for a tag, then reading it from the page or via API.

What is Metadata?

Metadata is a data storage capability provided by repositories, supporting key-value annotations for Tags and Commits.

Storage Format

Stored in key: value format, e.g.: Tag v1.0.0 metadata:

key1: value1
key2: value2
# ...

How to View

Tag metadata: Repository → Tag or Release list → Details → Metadata (hidden when no data exists)
Commit metadata: Repository → Commit list → Details → Metadata

Tips

The web interface currently only supports viewing — adding, modifying, and deleting are not available.

Management

You can add, delete, and query metadata through plugins in Cloud Native Build pipelines. See Metadata Plugin for details.

For example, write build info metadata for the current commit on a push event:

.cnb.yml
main:
  push:
    - stages:
        - name: Write metadata
          image: cnbcool/annotations:latest
          settings:
            type: ADD
            data: |
              build-id=$CNB_BUILD_ID
              commit=$CNB_COMMIT_SHORT

For non-Tag events such as push, metadata is written to the current commit by default; for tag_push and tag_deploy.* events, metadata is written to the corresponding tag. After a successful write, you can view it under "Metadata" on the Commit or Tag detail page.