Skip to main content

metadata-schema

Working with tika-metadata-schema, the build-gated registry of Tika metadata keys — regeneration after Property changes, gate tests, naming conventions, post-rename sweeps. Use when adding or renaming metadata keys or when the schema gate fails.

Source facts

Repository
apache/tika
Last source activity
August 27, 2026 at 17:44
Detected SKILL.md language
English
Stars
4,096
Forks
1,030

Install options

The review-first prompt is selected by default. You can switch to a direct command or download a local copy.

Review the source files

Read SKILL.md and any companion files shown by SkillsMP before deciding whether to install.

Showing SKILL.md

SKILL.md
Source instructions · Read-only preview
name
metadata-schema
description
Working with tika-metadata-schema, the build-gated registry of Tika metadata keys — regeneration after Property changes, gate tests, naming conventions, post-rename sweeps. Use when adding or renaming metadata keys or when the schema gate fails.
<!-- Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more contributor license agreements. See the NOTICE file distributed with this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership. The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0 Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under the License. --> Local override: `$TIKA_SKILLS_LOCAL/metadata-schema/LOCAL.md` (default `~/.tika-skills`), read after this file, wins on conflict. # Metadata Key Registry & Schema Skill Working with `tika-metadata-schema` — the committed, build-gated registry of Tika's metadata keys. File structure and the CLOSED/OPEN/TEMPLATE/UNKNOWN classification are in that module's `README.md`; this covers conventions, regeneration, and the traps. ## The three registries Under `tika-metadata-schema/src/main/resources/org/apache/tika/metadata/`: - `metadata-keys.json` — closed set: every `Property` constant + the synthesized `tk:digest:*` cross-product. - `metadata-open-namespaces.json` — `KeyPrefix` prefixes for runtime-minted names (`html:`, `message:raw-header:`, `mdb-prop:`). - `metadata-key-fields.json` — TIKA-4797 `{class, field, key}` table for field-identity migration. Committed on purpose: they are the reviewable audit trail of the key space (a rename or a dropped key shows up as a diff). Don't switch to build-time-only generation — that loses the review signal. ## Regenerate (after adding/changing a Property or KeyPrefix) ```bash tika-metadata-schema/regen.sh ``` This does the full sequence in one shot: `-am install` so newly added Property/KeyPrefix classes are on the scan classpath, regenerate all three registries via the forked-exec profile, print a before/after key-count check (catches an incomplete classpath scan), `git diff --stat` the registries, then run the gate tests. Flags: `--skip-install` (only safe if nothing outside `tika-metadata-schema` itself changed since the last install) and `--skip-tests` for a faster inner loop. Then review the diff and commit the Property change and the regenerated JSON together. The manual sequence the script replaces, for reference or if you need to run a step in isolation: ```bash # if parser Property classes changed, install them first so the scan sees them: ./mvnw -Pfast -DskipTests -pl tika-metadata-schema -am install -Dmaven.repo.local=$(pwd)/.local_m2_repo # regenerate all three: ./mvnw -pl tika-metadata-schema -Pregen-metadata-schema process-classes -Dmaven.repo.local=$(pwd)/.local_m2_repo ``` **Trap — never use `exec:java`.** `SchemaGenerator` scans `java.class.path`, force-loads Property classes, and swallows load failures. `exec:java` runs in-process on Maven's classpath → finds zero keys → emits a near-empty registry that exits 0 and *passes* `MetadataNoUnderscoreTest`. The `-Pregen-metadata-schema` profile uses the forking `exec` goal (`<classpath/>`) for a real child-JVM classpath. A hand-rolled `java -cp` also works, but the full repo classpath (~4000 jars) overflows the 128 KB arg limit — use the profile. **Trap — incomplete classpath drops keys silently.** Always validate: `git diff` should show only the intended change (a big key-count drop = classes failed to load), and `MetadataSchemaTest` regenerates under the full test classpath and asserts a byte-match — the definitive completeness check. ## Gate tests (run WITHOUT `-Pfast`, which skips execution) ```bash ./mvnw -pl tika-metadata-schema test -Dmaven.repo.local=$(pwd)/.local_m2_repo ``` - `MetadataSchemaTest` / `MetadataFieldTableTest` — regenerate in-memory, assert committed files match. - `MetadataNoUnderscoreTest` — no Tika-coined key/prefix may contain `_`. Scans the JSON, so it reflects the *registry*, not live code — regenerate before trusting it. - `MetadataKeyValidatorTest` — registry-driven CLOSED/OPEN/TEMPLATE/UNKNOWN classifier. - `MetadataCoverageTest` — fails if a scanned module's keys are neither in scope nor listed out-of-scope. Failures with stale `X-TIKA:`/underscore/`SHA256` keys usually mean *regenerate*, not edit code. ## Naming conventions (frozen for 4.0, TIKA-4794) - All keys are `Property` constants — no bare `String` keys (`metadata-string-keys.json` retired). Sole exception: `TikaCoreProperties.EMBEDDED_RESOURCE_TYPE_KEY`, an internal building block that constructs the `Property` name for `EMBEDDED_RESOURCE_TYPE` — not an independent key. - Tika-coined prefix is `tk:` (`X-TIKA:` is legacy); kebab-case, no underscores. - External-standard names verbatim, *including* the standard's prefix: `dc:`, `xmp:`, `cp:`, `extended-properties:`. - HTTP has no namespace → `Content-Type`, `Content-Encoding`, `Location` stay bare (no `http:`). - Tika-coined message keys *do* get a namespace: `message:`, `multipart:`. - HttpHeaders keys are SIMPLE — Content-Type is not a bag; parsers use `set()`, not `add()`. - Digest keys use the JCA name via `DigestDef.getJavaName()`: `tk:digest:SHA-256`, `SHA3-256` (not `SHA256`/`SHA3_256`). Config *input* still takes the enum name (`"SHA256"`); only the output key changes. ## After a rename: sweep for stale key literals The compiler won't catch `metadata.get("Message-From")`. Grep the whole repo for old strings and prefer replacing them with the constant, so the next rename fails to compile instead of at test time: ```bash grep -rn '"Message-' --include=*.java . | grep -v /target/ grep -rn 'tk:digest:SHA[0-9]' --include=*.java . | grep -v /target/ ``` ## XML comments can't contain `--` A double hyphen in an XML comment makes the POM non-parseable and breaks the module build. Reword.
View on GitHub