Box Developer Documentation
Log in
Latest version

Create metadata instance on file

post
https://api.box.com/2.0
/files/:file_id/metadata/:scope/:template_key

Applies an instance of a metadata template to a file.

In most cases only values that are present in the metadata template will be accepted, except for the global.properties template which accepts any key-value pair.

Related Guides

Request

bearer [ACCESS_TOKEN]
application/json

Path Parameters

stringin pathrequired
12345

The unique identifier that represents a file.

The ID for any file can be determined by visiting a file in the web application and copying the ID from the URL. For example, for the URL https://*.app.box.com/files/123 the file_id is 123.

stringin pathrequired
global

The scope of the metadata template

Value is one of global,enterprise

stringin pathrequired
properties

The name of the metadata template

Request Body

objectin body
"Aaron Levie"

A value for each of the fields that are present on the metadata template. For the global.properties template this can be a list of zero or more fields, as this template allows for any generic key-value pairs to be stored stored in the template.

Response

application/jsonMetadata instance (Full)

Returns the instance of the template that was applied to the file, including the data that was applied to the template.

application/jsonClient error

Returns an error when the request body is not valid.

  • schema_validation_failed - The request body contains a value for a field that either does not exist, or for which the value or type does not match the expected field type. An example might be an unknown option for an enum or multiSelect field.
application/jsonClient error

Returns an error when the file or metadata template was not found.

  • not_found - The file could not be found, or the user does not have access to the file.
  • instance_tuple_not_found - The metadata template was not found.
application/jsonClient error

Returns an error when an instance of this metadata template is already present on the file.

  • tuple_already_exists - An instance of them metadata template already exists on the file.
application/jsonClient error

An unexpected client error.

post
Create metadata instance on file
You can now try out some of our APIs live, right here in the documentation.
Log in

Request Example

cURL
curl -i -X POST "https://api.box.com/2.0/files/12345/metadata/enterprise_27335/blueprintTemplate" \
     -H "authorization: Bearer <ACCESS_TOKEN>" \
     -H "content-type: application/json" \
     -d '{
       "audience": "internal",
       "documentType": "Q1 plans",
       "competitiveDocument": "no",
       "status": "active",
       "author": "Jones",
       "currentState": "proposal"
     }'
TypeScript Gen
await client.fileMetadata.createFileMetadataById(
  file.id,
  'enterprise' as CreateFileMetadataByIdScope,
  templateKey,
  {
    ['name']: 'John',
    ['age']: 23,
    ['birthDate']: '2001-01-03T02:20:50.520Z',
    ['countryCode']: 'US',
    ['sports']: ['basketball', 'tennis'],
  },
);
Python Gen
client.file_metadata.create_file_metadata_by_id(
    file.id,
    CreateFileMetadataByIdScope.ENTERPRISE.value,
    template_key,
    {
        "name": "John",
        "age": 23,
        "birthDate": "2001-01-03T02:20:50.520Z",
        "countryCode": "US",
        "sports": ["basketball", "tennis"],
    },
)
.NET Gen
await client.FileMetadata.CreateFileMetadataByIdAsync(fileId: file.Id, scope: CreateFileMetadataByIdScope.Enterprise, templateKey: templateKey, requestBody: new Dictionary<string, object>() { { "name", "John" }, { "age", 23 }, { "birthDate", "2001-01-03T02:20:50.520Z" }, { "countryCode", "US" }, { "sports", Array.AsReadOnly(new [] {"basketball","tennis"}) } });
Java
// Add property "foo" with value "bar" to the default metadata properties
BoxFile file = new BoxFile(api, "id");
file.createMetadata(new Metadata().add("/foo", "bar"));
Python
metadata = {
    'foo': 'bar',
    'baz': 'quux',
}

applied_metadata = client.file(file_id='11111').metadata().create(metadata)
print(f'Applied metadata in instance ID {applied_metadata["$id"]}')
.NET
var metadataValues = new Dictionary<string, object>()
{
    { "audience", "internal" },
    { "documentType", "Q1 plans" },
    { "competitiveDocument", "no" },
    { "status", "active" },
    { "author": "M. Jones" },
    { "currentState": "proposal" }
};
Dictionary<string, object> metadata = await client.MetadataManager
    .CreateFileMetadataAsync(fileId: "11111", metadataValues, "enterprise", "marketingCollateral");
Node
var metadataValues = {
	audience: "internal",
	documentType: "Q1 plans",
	competitiveDocument: "no",
	status: "active",
	author: "Jones",
	currentState: "proposal"
};
client.files.addMetadata('11111', client.metadata.scopes.ENTERPRISE, "marketingCollateral", metadataValues)
	.then(metadata => {
		/* metadata -> {
			audience: 'internal',
			documentType: 'Q1 plans',
			competitiveDocument: 'no',
			status: 'active',
			author: 'Jones',
			currentState: 'proposal',
			'$type': 'marketingCollateral-d086c908-2498-4d3e-8a1f-01e82bfc2abe',
			'$parent': 'file_11111',
			'$id': '2094c584-68e1-475c-a581-534a4609594e',
			'$version': 0,
			'$typeVersion': 0,
			'$template': 'marketingCollateral',
			'$scope': 'enterprise_12345' }
		*/
	});
iOS
let metadata = [
    "name": "John Doe",
    "birthday": "2000-01-01T00:00:00Z",
    "department": "Sales"
]
client.metadata.create(
    forFileWithId: "11111",
    scope: "enterprise",
    templateKey: "personnelRecord",
    keys: metadata
) { (result: Result<MetadataObject, BoxSDKError>) in
    guard case let .success(metadata) = result {
        print("Error adding metadata")
        return
    }

    print("Successfully attached metadata")
}

Response Example

{
  "$canEdit": true,
  "$id": "01234500-12f1-1234-aa12-b1d234cb567e",
  "$parent": "folder_59449484661,",
  "$scope": "enterprise_27335",
  "$template": "marketingCollateral",
  "$type": "properties-6bcba49f-ca6d-4d2a-a758-57fe6edf44d0",
  "$typeVersion": 2,
  "$version": 1
}