Metadata API reference

Detailed documentation on the Metadata API

Dapr has a metadata API that returns information about the sidecar allowing runtime discoverability. The metadata endpoint returns the following information.

  • Runtime version
  • List of the loaded resources (components, subscriptions and HttpEndpoints)
  • Registered actor types
  • Features enabled
  • Application connection details
  • Custom, ephemeral attributes with information.

Metadata API

Components

Each loaded component provides its name, type and version and also information about supported features in the form of component capabilities. These features are available for the state store and binding component types. The table below shows the component type and the list of capabilities for a given version. This list might grow in future and only represents the capabilities of the loaded components.

Component type Capabilities
State Store ETAG, TRANSACTION, ACTOR, QUERY_API
Binding INPUT_BINDING, OUTPUT_BINDING

HTTPEndpoints

Each loaded HttpEndpoint provides a name to easily identify the Dapr resource associated with the runtime.

Subscriptions

The metadata API returns a list of pub/sub subscriptions that the app has registered with the Dapr runtime. This includes the pub/sub name, topic, routes, dead letter topic, and the metadata associated with the subscription.

Enabled features

A list of features enabled via Configuration spec (including build-time overrides).

App connection details

The metadata API returns information related to Dapr’s connection to the app. This includes the app port, protocol, host, max concurrency, along with health check details.

Attributes

The metadata API allows you to store additional attribute information in the format of key-value pairs. These are ephemeral in-memory and are not persisted if a sidecar is reloaded. This information should be added at the time of a sidecar creation (for example, after the application has started).

Get the Dapr sidecar information

Gets the Dapr sidecar information provided by the Metadata Endpoint.

Usecase:

The Get Metadata API can be used for discovering different capabilities supported by loaded components. It can help operators in determining which components to provision, for required capabilities.

HTTP Request

GET http://localhost:<daprPort>/v1.0/metadata

URL Parameters

Parameter Description
daprPort The Dapr port.

HTTP Response Codes

Code Description
200 Metadata information returned
500 Dapr could not return the metadata information

HTTP Response Body

Metadata API Response Object

Name Type Description
id string Application ID
runtimeVersion string Version of the Dapr runtime
enabledFeatures string[] List of features enabled by Dapr Configuration, see https://docs.dapr.io/operations/configuration/preview-features/
actors Metadata API Response Registered Actor[] A json encoded array of registered actors metadata.
extended.attributeName string List of custom attributes as key-value pairs, where key is the attribute name.
components Metadata API Response Component[] A json encoded array of loaded components metadata.
httpEndpoints Metadata API Response HttpEndpoint[] A json encoded array of loaded HttpEndpoints metadata.
subscriptions Metadata API Response Subscription[] A json encoded array of pub/sub subscriptions metadata.
appConnectionProperties Metadata API Response AppConnectionProperties A json encoded object of app connection properties.

Metadata API Response Registered Actor

Name Type Description
type string The registered actor type.
count integer Number of actors running.

Metadata API Response Component

Name Type Description
name string Name of the component.
type string Component type.
version string Component version.
capabilities array Supported capabilities for this component type and version.

Metadata API Response HttpEndpoint

Name Type Description
name string Name of the HttpEndpoint.

Metadata API Response Subscription

Name Type Description
pubsubname string Name of the pub/sub.
topic string Topic name.
metadata object Metadata associated with the subscription.
rules Metadata API Response Subscription Rules[] List of rules associated with the subscription.
deadLetterTopic string Dead letter topic name.

Metadata API Response Subscription Rules

Name Type Description
match string CEL expression to match the message, see https://docs.dapr.io/developing-applications/building-blocks/pubsub/howto-route-messages/#common-expression-language-cel
path string Path to route the message if the match expression is true.

Metadata API Response AppConnectionProperties

Name Type Description
port integer Port on which the app is listening.
protocol string Protocol used by the app.
channelAddress string Host address on which the app is listening.
maxConcurrency integer Maximum number of concurrent requests the app can handle.
health Metadata API Response AppConnectionProperties Health Health check details of the app.

Metadata API Response AppConnectionProperties Health

Name Type Description
healthCheckPath string Health check path, applicable for HTTP protocol.
healthProbeInterval string Time between each health probe, in go duration format.
healthProbeTimeout string Timeout for each health probe, in go duration format.
healthThreshold integer Max number of failed health probes before the app is considered unhealthy.

Examples

curl http://localhost:3500/v1.0/metadata
{
  "id": "myApp",
  "runtimeVersion": "1.12.0",
  "enabledFeatures": [
    "ServiceInvocationStreaming"
  ],
  "actors": [
    {
      "type": "DemoActor"
    }
  ],
  "components": [
    {
      "name": "pubsub",
      "type": "pubsub.redis",
      "version": "v1"
    },
    {
      "name": "statestore",
      "type": "state.redis",
      "version": "v1",
      "capabilities": [
        "ETAG",
        "TRANSACTIONAL",
        "ACTOR"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "httpEndpoints": [
    {
      "name": "my-backend-api"
    }
  ],
  "subscriptions": [
    {
      "pubsubname": "pubsub",
      "topic": "orders",
      "deadLetterTopic": "",
      "metadata": {
        "ttlInSeconds": "30"
      },
      "rules": [
          {
              "match": "%!s(<nil>)",
              "path": "orders"
          }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "extended": {
    "appCommand": "uvicorn --port 3000 demo_actor_service:app",
    "appPID": "98121",
    "cliPID": "98114",
    "daprRuntimeVersion": "1.12.0"
  },
  "appConnectionProperties": {
    "port": 3000,
    "protocol": "http",
    "channelAddress": "127.0.0.1",
    "health": {
      "healthProbeInterval": "5s",
      "healthProbeTimeout": "500ms",
      "healthThreshold": 3
    }
  }
}

Add a custom label to the Dapr sidecar information

Adds a custom label to the Dapr sidecar information stored by the Metadata endpoint.

Usecase:

The metadata endpoint is, for example, used by the Dapr CLI when running dapr in self hosted mode to store the PID of the process hosting the sidecar and store the command used to run the application. Applications can also add attributes as keys after startup.

HTTP Request

PUT http://localhost:<daprPort>/v1.0/metadata/attributeName

URL Parameters

Parameter Description
daprPort The Dapr port.
attributeName Custom attribute name. This is they key name in the key-value pair.

HTTP Request Body

In the request you need to pass the custom attribute value as RAW data:

{
  "Content-Type": "text/plain"
}

Within the body of the request place the custom attribute value you want to store:

attributeValue

HTTP Response Codes

Code Description
204 Custom attribute added to the metadata information

Examples

Add a custom attribute to the metadata endpoint:

curl -X PUT -H "Content-Type: text/plain" --data "myDemoAttributeValue" http://localhost:3500/v1.0/metadata/myDemoAttribute

Get the metadata information to confirm your custom attribute was added:

{
  "id": "myApp",
  "runtimeVersion": "1.12.0",
  "enabledFeatures": [
    "ServiceInvocationStreaming"
  ],
  "actors": [
    {
      "type": "DemoActor"
    }
  ],
  "components": [
    {
      "name": "pubsub",
      "type": "pubsub.redis",
      "version": "v1"
    },
    {
      "name": "statestore",
      "type": "state.redis",
      "version": "v1",
      "capabilities": [
        "ETAG",
        "TRANSACTIONAL",
        "ACTOR"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "httpEndpoints": [
    {
      "name": "my-backend-api"
    }
  ],
  "subscriptions": [
    {
      "pubsubname": "pubsub",
      "topic": "orders",
      "deadLetterTopic": "",
      "metadata": {
        "ttlInSeconds": "30"
      },
      "rules": [
          {
              "match": "%!s(<nil>)",
              "path": "orders"
          }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "extended": {
    "myDemoAttribute": "myDemoAttributeValue",
    "appCommand": "uvicorn --port 3000 demo_actor_service:app",
    "appPID": "98121",
    "cliPID": "98114",
    "daprRuntimeVersion": "1.12.0"
  },
  "appConnectionProperties": {
    "port": 3000,
    "protocol": "http",
    "channelAddress": "127.0.0.1",
    "health": {
      "healthProbeInterval": "5s",
      "healthProbeTimeout": "500ms",
      "healthThreshold": 3
    }
  }
}