About

Custom metadata helps organize content better by adding specific details through custom fields, making it easier to find and manage digital assets.

Stored in a schema (also called a metadata profile), custom metadata can be assigned to entries or categories. Custom metadata is defined using an XSD (XML Schema Definition) and allows you to create a structure that fits your organization’s needs.

Types of metadata

Kaltura supports three types of metadata:

Technical metadata

Automatically generated during ingestion and encoding. It includes attributes like file type, duration, and format. Technical metadata is read-only and available through the Kaltura APIs ( see KalturaMediaInfo).

Basic metadata 

Entered manually in the KMC Metadata tab. This includes fields such as Name, Description, Tags, and Categories. Tags are comma separated and can be used as filters, while Categories let you assign entries to taxonomies.

Reference ID can store an external identifier or match a filename during ingestion (see Drop folders service for content ingestion).

Custom metadata

Also called custom data, this is stored in a schema you create. Custom schemas can be assigned to entries or categories. Commercial users can contact their account manager to enable this feature if needed.

Custom metadata XSDs are unique to each account and determine which fields are available, how they behave, and how they can be searched or filtered.

Common use cases

Organizations typically use custom metadata for:

• Create your own taxonomy - Define and apply organizational fields like Department, Subject, or Content Type to support filtering and browsing in the Video Portal or LMS galleries.
• Flag content by academic term or semester - Use custom fields like Semester or Academic Year to help categorize and track course content over time.
• Mark training or compliance content - Add fields like Compliance Required or Training Type to identify and report on mandatory content for employees or students.
• Control content visibility by audience - Add custom fields like Audience Type (e.g., Internal, Public, Executive) to help control where content appears across your site. For example, you can use these fields to filter which videos show up on specific pages or in certain galleries.
• Structure content by event or project - Use metadata to associate media with events, conferences, or campaigns using fields like Event Name, Track, or Project Code.
• Group related entries - Use linked-entry custom fields to associate media together, for example, pairing a lecture video with a corresponding slides entry.

Metadata actions

You can manage assets and metadata through the following methods:

• Custom Data tab: Edit basic and custom metadata for single assets or apply changes to multiple selected assets.



• Entries Bulk Upload (CSV/XML): Add assets in batches, including media files and associated metadata (see Learn about CSV and XML files for bulk upload).
• Kaltura APIs: Perform all metadata-related functions available in the KMC and access additional functionality not available through the UI.

Using custom metadata for entries

Use custom metadata to enrich how entries are described and discovered.

Entry metadata fields support:

• Text
• Predefined select lists
• Dates
• Linked-entry lists
• Multi-value fields

You can use custom metadata for viewing and editing, filtering, search, syndication rules, and content distribution. For example, if a distribution channel expects a specific custom field, that field must be populated for the content to be delivered.

Custom metadata is also used when creating syndication rules and when searching through the KMC.

Using custom metadata with Automation Manager

The Automation manager rules can reference custom metadata fields, for example:

• Move videos with a custom 'Department' field set to 'Marketing' into a dedicated category
• Unpublish entries from a specific semester
• Delete entries marked as 'Archived' in your custom metadata
• Tag older content with 'Review Needed' based on a custom 'Last Reviewed' date field

This helps automate workflows based on the metadata structure you define.

Using custom metadata for categories

Custom metadata for categories lets you add information directly to the category object, instead of storing it on individual entries. This is useful for controlling how categories appear in channel pages and for creating filters that determine where categories or channels display across your site.

You create and manage category metadata the same way you work with entry metadata in the KMC. However, a schema can apply to either entries or categories, not both.

Category metadata only affects the category itself. It doesn’t change or override the metadata of entries within that category and applies only to category-related Kaltura API calls.

Managing schemas

A schema is a model for describing the structure of information. Each data schema holds a list of customized fields. An XSD (XML Schema Definition) provides a way to describe and validate data in an XML environment.

To learn how to crate a custom metadata schema, visit our article Create a custom metadata schema.