Get Metadata
Reads the metadata of an object in an Amazon S3 bucket, such as its size, content type and last modified date.
Get Metadata reads the properties of an object in an Amazon S3 bucket without downloading it: its size, content type, ETag, last modified date and any custom metadata.
Before you start
The AWS S3 actions don't use a stored credential. Each action has the same four connection fields:
| Field | Type | Required | What to put |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access Key | Text | Yes | The access key ID of an AWS IAM user, for example AKIAโฆ. |
| Secret Key | Text | Yes | The secret access key that belongs to that access key. |
| Region | Text | Yes | The AWS region of the bucket, as its code, for example eu-central-1. |
| Bucket | Text | Yes | The bucket name, for example my-company-invoices. |
The IAM user needs S3 permissions on the bucket for the operation you run. The values you type are visible to everyone who can edit the process, so prefer an IAM user limited to the buckets the process needs.
Add the action
In the Process Designer toolbox, open AWS S3 and pick Get Metadata (or type Get Metadata in the search box).
Inputs and outputs
| Field | Direction | Type | Required | What to put / what you get |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Access Key, Secret Key, Region, Bucket | Input | Text | Yes | The connection fields described above. |
| Object Key | Input | Text | Yes | The full key of the object, including every prefix, for example invoices/2026/inv-001.pdf. |
| Result | Output | Object (JSON) | Yes | The metadata that S3 returns for the object (size, content type, ETag, last modified date, custom metadata and other headers). |
Example
Object Key invoices/2026/inv-001.pdf โ Result is a JSON object describing that object. Read single values from it with a JSON action or a mapping, for example its content length or content type.
Good to know
- If the object doesn't exist, the step fails with "Object not found! Ensure the bucket and object key are correct." Use Object Exists first if the object may be missing.
- If a connection field is empty, the step fails with "Invalid connection details."
- Common errors from S3: "Access forbidden! Ensure the connection details are valid." (wrong keys or missing permission), "Unable to connect! Ensure the provided region matches the bucket one." (wrong Region), and "Unrecognized Amazon Region: โฆ" (a region code that doesn't exist).