# Configuration Metadata

The `metadata` section of the `atmos.yaml` allows you to add descriptive metadata to your configuration. This metadata is useful for documentation, organization, and tooling integration.

## Configuration

**File:** `atmos.yaml`

```yaml
metadata:
  # Name of the configuration or project
  name: my-infrastructure

  # Human-readable description
  description: "Production infrastructure for ACME Corp"

  # Semantic version of the configuration
  version: "1.0.0"

  # Labels for filtering and organization
  tags:
    - production
    - aws
    - terraform

  # Mark configuration as deprecated
  deprecated: false
```

## Fields

- **`name`**
  A short identifier for the configuration or project. Useful for tooling that needs to reference configurations by name.
- **`description`**
  A human-readable description of what this configuration is for. Helps team members understand the purpose of the configuration.
- **`version`**
  Semantic version of the configuration. Useful for tracking changes and ensuring compatibility.
- **`tags`**
  A list of labels for categorization. Can be used for filtering, grouping, or documentation purposes.
- **`deprecated`**

  When set to `true`, indicates this configuration should no longer be used.
  Tooling may display warnings when deprecated configurations are used.
  Default: `false`.

## Examples

### Basic Project Metadata

**File:** `atmos.yaml`

```yaml
metadata:
  name: acme-platform
  description: "ACME Corp platform infrastructure"
  version: "2.1.0"
```

### Tagged Configuration

Use tags to categorize and filter configurations:

**File:** `atmos.yaml`

```yaml
metadata:
  name: dev-environment
  description: "Development environment infrastructure"
  tags:
    - development
    - non-production
    - cost-optimized
```

### Deprecated Configuration

Mark a configuration as deprecated to warn users:

**File:** `atmos.yaml`

```yaml
metadata:
  name: legacy-vpc
  description: "Legacy VPC configuration - use vpc-v2 instead"
  deprecated: true
  tags:
    - legacy
    - migration-required
```

## Use Cases

- **Documentation**: Automatically generate documentation from metadata
- **Tooling**: Build scripts that filter or process configurations based on tags
- **Governance**: Track configuration versions and deprecation status
- **Organization**: Group related configurations using tags
- **Atmos Profiles**: When using [Atmos Profiles](/cli/configuration/profiles), metadata helps identify which configuration is active. The `name` field is particularly useful for distinguishing between different profile configurations (e.g., `dev-profile`, `prod-profile`, `ci-profile`)