---
title: "Retrieve metadata about the matching service"
method: GET
path: "/v2/species/match/metadata"
tags: ["Metadata"]
---

# Retrieve metadata about the matching service

`GET /v2/species/match/metadata`

## Request

- Base URL: `https://api.gbif.org`
- URL: `https://api.gbif.org/v2/species/match/metadata`
- Auth: none declared
- TypeScript: <https://skmtc.dev/gbif/apis/species-api/docs/v2/species/match/metadata/get.ts> (a function with typed inputs; its response is checked against the schema)

Returns JSON metadata about the index, the dataset, the software versioning. Includes: index size
 counts by rank
 git commit ID
 git commit date
 git commit user
 git commit message
 git branch
 git tag
 dataset ID
 dataset title
 dataset version
 dataset release date

## Query parameters

- `checklistKey` string, uuid

## Response `200`

OK

- APIMetadata: Metadata about the index and software used to access the index through webservices
  - `created` string, date-time: When the index was created. Typically the build date of the docker image
  - `buildInfo` BuildInfo
    - `sha` string: The git commit the code was built from
    - `url` string: URL to JSON information about the git commit
    - `html_url` string: URL to the git commit
    - `message` string: The commit message
    - `name` string: The author of the commit
    - `email` string: The author email of the commit
    - `date` string: The date of the commit
  - `mainIndex` IndexMetadata: Metadata about an specific section of the index (e.g. main or identifier index)
    - `clbDatasetKey` string: The checklistbank dataset key
    - `datasetKey` string: The GBIF key
    - `datasetAlias` string: The dataset alias
    - `datasetTitle` string: The dataset description
    - `sizeInMB` integer: The size of the index in MB
    - `nameUsageCount` integer: The number of name usages in the index
    - `matchesToMain` integer: The number of name usages matched to main index
    - `nameUsageByRankCount` object: Counts of name usages by rank
  - `identifierIndexes` IndexMetadata: Metadata about an specific section of the index (e.g. main or identifier index)
    - `clbDatasetKey` string: The checklistbank dataset key
    - `datasetKey` string: The GBIF key
    - `datasetAlias` string: The dataset alias
    - `datasetTitle` string: The dataset description
    - `sizeInMB` integer: The size of the index in MB
    - `nameUsageCount` integer: The number of name usages in the index
    - `matchesToMain` integer: The number of name usages matched to main index
    - `nameUsageByRankCount` object: Counts of name usages by rank
  - `ancillaryIndexes` IndexMetadata: Metadata about an specific section of the index (e.g. main or identifier index)
    - `clbDatasetKey` string: The checklistbank dataset key
    - `datasetKey` string: The GBIF key
    - `datasetAlias` string: The dataset alias
    - `datasetTitle` string: The dataset description
    - `sizeInMB` integer: The size of the index in MB
    - `nameUsageCount` integer: The number of name usages in the index
    - `matchesToMain` integer: The number of name usages matched to main index
    - `nameUsageByRankCount` object: Counts of name usages by rank

## Changes

- **2026-08-06** `156fd5bac927`: 4 info
  - added the new optional `query` request parameter `checklistKey`
  - added the optional property `ancillaryIndexes/datasetAlias` to the response with the `200` status
  - added the optional property `identifierIndexes/datasetAlias` to the response with the `200` status
  - added the optional property `mainIndex/datasetAlias` to the response with the `200` status

[Operation history](https://skmtc.dev/gbif/apis/species-api/changes/v2/species/match/metadata/get.md)

---

[API](https://skmtc.dev/gbif/apis/species-api.md) - [All operations](https://skmtc.dev/gbif/apis/species-api/llms.txt) - [OpenAPI document](https://skmtc.dev/gbif/apis/species-api/revisions/340d13cde148?raw)