Get dataset metadata

Use the Bright Data Marketplace Dataset API to get Dataset Metadata. GET /datasets//metadata returns 200 OK with snapshot metadata as JSON.

Paste your API key to the authorization field. To get an API key, Create an account and learn how to generate an API key.

General Description

• This endpoint retrieves detailed metadata for a specific dataset.
• Metadata includes available fields, data types, and descriptions.
• Use this endpoint to understand the structure of a dataset before querying or downloading it.

Request

Endpoint

GET https://api.brightdata.com/datasets/{dataset_id}/metadata

Path Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
dataset_id	string	The unique identifier of the dataset

Headers

Header	Type	Description
Authorization	string	Your API key for authentication

Response

Response Example

{
    "id": "gd_l1vijqt9jfj7olije",
    "fields": {
        "name": {
            "type": "text",
            "active": true,
            "description": "The name of the company"
        },
        "url": {
            "type": "url",
            "required": true,
            "description": "The URL or web address associated with the company"
        },
        "cb_rank": {
            "type": "number",
            "description": "Crunchbase rank assigned to the company"
        }
    }
}

Response Fields

Field	Type	Description
id	string	Unique identifier for the dataset
fields	object	Contains metadata about each field in the dataset

Field Metadata

Each field in the fields object contains the following attributes:

Attribute	Type	Description
type	string	Data type of the field (e.g., text, number, url)
active	boolean	Indicates if the field is currently active
required	boolean	Indicates if the field is mandatory (if applicable)
description	string	Brief description of the field

Example Use Case

Fetching Dataset Metadata

To retrieve metadata for the “Crunchbase companies information” dataset:

Request

GET https://api.brightdata.com/datasets/gd_l1vijqt9jfj7olije/metadata

Response

{
    "id": "gd_l1vijqt9jfj7olije",
    "fields": {
        "name": {
            "type": "text",
            "active": true,
            "description": "The name of the company"
        },
        "url": {
            "type": "url",
            "required": true,
            "description": "The URL or web address associated with the company"
        },
        "cb_rank": {
            "type": "number",
            "description": "Crunchbase rank assigned to the company"
        }
    }
}

Troubleshooting & FAQs

Issue: “Unauthorized” response

Solution: Ensure you have included a valid API key in the request header.

Issue: “Dataset not found”

Solution: Verify that the dataset_id is correct and exists in the dataset list.

Issue: “Field missing in metadata”

Solution: Some fields may be inactive or unavailable for certain datasets.

Related Documentation

• Get Dataset List
• Dataset Filtering API