title: API: Retrieve metadata of an existing zettel
role: manual
tags: #api #manual #zettelstore
syntax: zmk
back: 00001012000000 00001012053300
backward: 00001012000000 00001012053300
box-name: manual
copyright: (c) 2020-present by Detlef Stern <ds@zettelstore.de>
created: 20210726174524
forward: 00001006050000 00001010040100 00001012050200 00001012920000 00001012921200 00001012930500
lang: en
license: EUPL-1.2-or-later
modified: 20260729141452
published: 20260729141452
visibility: public

The [endpoint](00001012920000) to work with metadata of a specific zettel is `/z/{ID}`, where `{ID}` is a placeholder for the [zettel identifier](00001006050000).

To retrieve the plain metadata of a zettel, use the query parameter `part=meta`

    # curl 'http://127.0.0.1:23123/z/00001012053400?part=meta'
    title: API: Retrieve metadata of an existing zettel
    role: manual
    tags: #api #manual #zettelstore
    syntax: zmk

# Data output

Alternatively, you may retrieve the zettel as a parseable object / a [symbolic expression](00001012930500) by providing the query parameter `enc=data`:

    # curl 'http://127.0.0.1:23123/z/00001012053400?part=meta&enc=data'
    (list (meta (back "00001012000000 00001012053300") (backward "00001012000000 00001012053300") (box-name "manual") (created "20210726174524") (forward "00001006050000 00001010040100 00001012050200 00001012920000 00001012921200 00001012930500") (modified "20241216104120") (published "20241216104120") (role "manual") (syntax "zmk") (tags "#api #manual #zettelstore") (title "API: Retrieve metadata of an existing zettel")) (rights create read update delete))

Pretty-printed, this results in:

    (list
        (meta
            (back "00001012000000 00001012053300")
            (backward "00001012000000 00001012053300")
            (box-name "manual")
            (created "20210726174524")
            (forward "00001006050000 00001010040100 00001012050200 00001012920000 00001012921200 00001012930500")
            (modified "20241216104120")
            (published "20241216104120")
            (role "manual")
            (syntax "zmk")
            (tags "#api #manual #zettelstore")
            (title "API: Retrieve metadata of an existing zettel"))
        (rights create read update delete))

* The result is a list, starting with the symbol `list`.
* Then, some key/value pairs are following, also nested.
* Nested in `meta` are the metadata, each as a key/value pair.
* `rights` specifies the [access rights](00001012921200) the user has for this zettel.

# HTTP Status codes