---
title: "get the metadata of an hdf object"
method: GET
path: "/hdf/meta/{fpath}"
---

# get the metadata of an hdf object

`GET /hdf/meta/{fpath}`

get the metadata of an hdf object. If the object is a dataset and the ixstr parameter is provided, all shape-related metadata will be for the slab specified by ixstr

## Response `200`

metadata of an arbitrary hdf object, as a dictionary

- union — the metadata of an hdf object
  - DatasetMeta — metadata of an hdf dataset, as a dictionary
    - `attributes` AttrMeta[], required — metadata of the attributes of a dataset
      - `name` string, required — name of an attribute
      - `dtype` string, required — datatype of an attribute
      - `shape` number[], required — shape of an attribute
    - `dtype` string, required — datatype of an hdf dataset
    - `labels` Slice[], required — ranges that label the indices of an hdf dataset, given as an array of slices
      - `start` number, required — first index of the slice
      - `stop` number, required — one past the last index of the slice
      - `step` number, required — step of the slice
    - `name` string, required — name of hdf dataset
    - `ndim` number, required — count of dimensions of an hdf dataset
    - `shape` number[], required — shape of an hdf dataset
    - `size` number, required — count of entries of an hdf dataset
    - `type` 'dataset', required — the string literal `"dataset"`
  - GroupMeta — metadata of an hdf group, as a dictionary
    - `attributes` AttrMeta[], required — metadata of the attributes of the group
      - `name` string, required — name of an attribute
      - `dtype` string, required — datatype of an attribute
      - `shape` number[], required — shape of an attribute
    - `children` union[], required — metadata of the children of the group
      - union
        - DatasetMeta — metadata of an hdf dataset, as a dictionary
          - `attributes` AttrMeta[], required — metadata of the attributes of a dataset
            - `name` string, required — name of an attribute
            - `dtype` string, required — datatype of an attribute
            - `shape` number[], required — shape of an attribute
          - `dtype` string, required — datatype of an hdf dataset
          - `labels` Slice[], required — ranges that label the indices of an hdf dataset, given as an array of slices
            - `start` number, required — first index of the slice
            - `stop` number, required — one past the last index of the slice
            - `step` number, required — step of the slice
          - `name` string, required — name of hdf dataset
          - `ndim` number, required — count of dimensions of an hdf dataset
          - `shape` number[], required — shape of an hdf dataset
          - `size` number, required — count of entries of an hdf dataset
          - `type` 'dataset', required — the string literal `"dataset"`
        - ChildGroupMeta — metadata of a child hdf group (does not include children)
          - `attributes` AttrMeta[], required — metadata of the attributes of the group
            - `name` string, required — name of an attribute
            - `dtype` string, required — datatype of an attribute
            - `shape` number[], required — shape of an attribute
          - `name` string, required — name of hdf group
          - `type` 'group', required — the string literal `"group"`
    - `name` string, required — name of hdf group
    - `type` 'group', required — the string literal `"group"`

## Other responses

- `400` — the request was malformed; url should be of the format `"fpath?uri=uri"`
- `401` — the request did not specify a file that `h5py` could understand
- `403` — the request specified a file that does not exist
- `500` — found and opened file, error getting contents from object specified by the uri

## Changes

- **2021-07-12** `51f5737233d1` — 1 warning, 1 info
  - removed the optional property `oneOf[#/components/schemas/group_meta]/childrenCount` from the response with the `200` status
  - added the required property `oneOf[#/components/schemas/group_meta]/children` to the response with the `200` status
- **2021-07-06** `24ace76c28b4` — 1 breaking
  - the response property `oneOf[#/components/schemas/group_meta]/childrenCount` became optional for the status `200`
- **2021-03-09** `d989f5483a0f` — 2 breaking, 2 info
  - removed the required property `oneOf[#/components/schemas/dataset_meta]/attributeCount` from the response with the `200` status
  - removed the required property `oneOf[#/components/schemas/group_meta]/attributeCount` from the response with the `200` status
  - added the required property `oneOf[#/components/schemas/dataset_meta]/attributes` to the response with the `200` status
  - added the required property `oneOf[#/components/schemas/group_meta]/attributes` to the response with the `200` status
- **2021-01-13** `c6f55726bc82` — 2 breaking
  - removed the required property `oneOf[#/components/schemas/dataset_meta]/id` from the response with the `200` status
  - removed the required property `oneOf[#/components/schemas/group_meta]/id` from the response with the `200` status
- …earlier changes not shown

[Full history](https://skmtc.dev/jupyter-server/apis/jupyterlab-hdf5-proxy/changes/hdf/meta/:fpath/get.md)

---

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