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git-annex allows you to store arbitrary metadata about files stored in the
git-annex repository. The metadata is stored in the `git-annex` branch, and
so is automatically kept in sync with the rest of git-annex's state, such
as [[location_tracking]] information.
Some of the things you can do with metadata include:
* Using `git annex metadata file` to show all
the metadata associated with a file.
* [[tips/metadata_driven_views]]
* Limiting the files git-annex commands act on to those with
or without particular metadata.
For example `git annex find --metadata tag=foo --or --metadata tag=bar`
* Using it in [[preferred_content]] expressions.
For example "tag=important or not author=me"
Each file (actually the underlying key) can have any number of metadata
fields, which each can have any number of values. For example, to tag
files, the `tag` field is typically used, with values set to each tag that
applies to the file.
The field names are limited to alphanumerics (and `[_-.]`), and are case
insensitive. The metadata values can contain absolutely anything you
like -- but you're recommended to keep it simple and reasonably short.
Here are some metadata fields that git-annex has special support for:
* `tag` - With each tag being a different value.
* `year`, `month` - When this particular version of the file came into
being.
* `$field-lastchanged` - This is automatically maintained for each
field that's set, and gives the time stamp (since the Unix epoch)
of the most recent change to the field. It cannot be modified directly.
To make git-annex automatically set the year and month when adding files,
run `git config annex.genmetadata true`. Also, see
[[tips/automatically_adding_metadata]].
git-annex's metadata can be updated in a distributed fashion. For example,
two users, each with their own clone of a repository, can set and unset
metadata at the same time, even for the same field of the same file.
When they push their changes, `git annex merge` will combine their
metadata changes in a consistent and (probably) intuitive way.
See [[the metadata design page|design/metadata]] for more details.
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