Is metadata.yaml part of the spec, or a CLI implementation detail?

[nlebovits]

metadata.yaml is the file where humans enrich a collection's metadata (titles, descriptions, licenses) without editing STAC JSON by hand. Javi's pushback from June 26: this feels like a feature of the CLI, not something the spec should mandate — another tool could achieve the same result a different way.

The options: keep it in the spec as required; drop it from the spec entirely (document it as CLI behavior only); or spec it as an optional convention.

Worth knowing: the design document for metadata.yaml says "the schema is the spec," but that schema currently exists only as Python code — so if we keep it in the spec, we owe it a real written schema. There's sprint writing work queued behind this decision, so it's worth settling early.

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Part of the July 2026 spec sprint. Hub: discussion #570 · work tracker: epic #564 · everything here carries the spec-sprint label.

[nlebovits]

Have decided not to include metadata.yaml in the spec, but instead include certain OKF formats in the readme via YAML frontmatter.