> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://mintlify.com/supertokens/supertokens-core/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Get User Metadata

> Retrieve metadata for a specific user

## Endpoint

```
GET /recipe/user/metadata
```

This is an app-specific API that retrieves metadata associated with a user.

## Query Parameters

<ParamField query="userId" type="string" required>
  The ID of the user whose metadata you want to retrieve.
</ParamField>

## Request Example

```bash theme={null}
curl -X GET "https://your-api-domain.com/recipe/user/metadata?userId=user123" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json"
```

## Response

<ResponseField name="status" type="string">
  Always returns `"OK"`
</ResponseField>

<ResponseField name="metadata" type="object">
  A JSON object containing the user's metadata. Returns an empty object `{}` if no metadata exists for the user.
</ResponseField>

## Response Example

```json theme={null}
{
  "status": "OK",
  "metadata": {
    "preferences": {
      "theme": "dark",
      "language": "en"
    },
    "lastLoginLocation": "New York",
    "accountType": "premium"
  }
}
```

## Empty Metadata Response

```json theme={null}
{
  "status": "OK",
  "metadata": {}
}
```

## Implementation Details

**Source**: [View source](https://github.com/supertokens/supertokens-core/blob/master/src/main/java/io/supertokens/webserver/api/usermetadata/UserMetadataAPI.java#L39)

* This API requires public tenant access
* Returns an empty object if the user has no metadata
* Metadata is stored as a JSON object and can contain any valid JSON structure
* User ID mapping is automatically handled for app-specific queries

## Use Cases

* Retrieve user preferences and settings
* Get custom user profile information
* Fetch application-specific user data
* Access metadata for user personalization

## Related Endpoints

<Card title="Update User Metadata" href="/api/metadata/update">
  Update or create user metadata
</Card>