Command Line Interface Leave feedback

Installing the groupdocs-metadata-net package also puts a groupdocs-metadata console script on your PATH. It is a thin wrapper over the Python API for the cases where a Python script is overkill — shell pipelines, Make rules, CI steps, and one-off checks before a file leaves your organization.

The CLI ships inside the package, so no extra installation is needed. Make sure groupdocs-metadata-net 26.9 or later is installed (see Installation), then check the console script:

groupdocs-metadata --version

groupdocs-metadata 26.9.0

Note

If the groupdocs-metadata command is not found, the package’s script directory is not on your PATH. The module form works everywhere and is equivalent: python -m groupdocs.metadata.

Run groupdocs-metadata --help for the full flag listing, or groupdocs-metadata <command> --help for one command.

Print basic information about a file.

groupdocs-metadata info photo.jpg

format:     JPEG
extension:  .jpg
mime_type:  image/jpeg
size:       906062
pages:      1
encrypted:  False

Add --json for machine-readable output.

List the metadata properties, one per line as name = value [tags]. Where the engine can interpret a raw value, it is shown first with the raw value in parentheses.

groupdocs-metadata show report.docx --tag person

Author = Prokofjev Igor  [person.creator, document.built_in]
LastSavedBy = New user  [person.editor, document.built_in]
dc:creator = Prokofjev Igor  [person.creator]
CommentAuthor = Prokofjev Igor  [person.creator]
CommentAuthorInitials = PI  [person.creator]

Without --tag every property is listed. --json prints a list of {"name", "type", "value", "tags"} objects (plus "interpreted" where there is one).

Remove every metadata property the engine detects.

groupdocs-metadata clean report.docx                   # writes report.clean.docx
groupdocs-metadata clean report.docx -o shared.docx    # choose the output
groupdocs-metadata clean report.docx -o report.docx    # clean in place

removed 24 properties -> report.clean.docx

The input is never overwritten unless -o names it.

Remove only the properties that carry a tag.

groupdocs-metadata remove photo.jpg --tag person.creator -o photo-anon.jpg
groupdocs-metadata remove report.docx --tag person -o report-anon.docx

Some formats keep built-in properties such as a Word document’s Last saved by: those are cleared rather than deleted, so show still lists them, empty.

Export every property to a file. The output extension picks the format — json, csv, xlsx, xls or xml; pass --format when the name does not say.

groupdocs-metadata export report.pdf -o metadata.json
groupdocs-metadata export photo.jpg -o metadata.xlsx

List the file formats the engine supports — extension, format family and description.

groupdocs-metadata list-formats

show --tag and remove --tag take either a whole category or one tag in it, written category.tag. show prints each property’s tags in exactly that form, so its output can be pasted back into --tag.

An unknown tag makes the command exit with code 2 and list the tags its category has.

Every command that opens a file also takes --password for protected documents:

groupdocs-metadata --license GroupDocs.Metadata.lic show protected.docx --password "secret"

Note

The CLI also honours the GROUPDOCS_LIC_PATH environment variable — when it is set, the license is applied automatically and --license can be omitted. See Evaluation Limitations and Licensing.

Files are read through a stream, so a read-only input works for every command that does not overwrite it.

The CLI covers inspecting, cleaning and exporting single files. Setting or adding property values, working with a format’s own packages (EXIF, XMP, IPTC objects), in-memory streams and export options need the Python API — see the Developer Guide.

• Quick Start Guide: read and remove metadata with the Python API.
• Supported File Formats: the formats the engine reads and writes.
• Troubleshooting: common errors and their fixes.