# rpk cluster metadata

> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.redpanda.com/llms.txt). Component-specific: [streaming-full.txt](https://docs.redpanda.com/streaming-full.txt)

---
title: rpk cluster metadata
latest-operator-version: v26.1.4
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page-eol-date: December 22, 2024
latest-console-tag: v3.7.3
latest-connect-version: 4.93.0
docname: rpk/rpk-cluster/rpk-cluster-metadata
page-component-name: streaming
page-version: "23.3"
page-component-version: "23.3"
page-component-title: Streaming
page-relative-src-path: rpk/rpk-cluster/rpk-cluster-metadata.adoc
page-edit-url: https://github.com/redpanda-data/docs/edit/v/23.3/modules/reference/pages/rpk/rpk-cluster/rpk-cluster-metadata.adoc
page-git-created-date: "2023-05-17"
page-git-modified-date: "2024-04-04"
support-status: past end-of-life
---

<!-- Source: https://docs.redpanda.com/streaming/23.3/reference/rpk/rpk-cluster/rpk-cluster-metadata.md -->

Request broker metadata.

The Kafka protocol’s metadata contains information about brokers, topics, and the cluster as a whole.

This command only runs if specific sections of metadata are requested. There are currently three sections: the cluster, the list of brokers, and the topics. If no section is specified, this defaults to printing all sections.

If the topic section is requested, all topics are requested by default unless some are manually specified as arguments. Expanded per-partition information can be printed with the -d flag, and internal topics can be printed with the -i flag.

In the broker section, the controller node is suffixed with `\*`.

## [](#usage)Usage

```bash
rpk cluster metadata [flags]
```

## [](#aliases)Aliases

```bash
metadata, status, info
```

## [](#flags)Flags

| Value | Type | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| -h, --help | - | Help for metadata. |
| -b, --print-brokers | - | Print brokers section. |
| -c, --print-cluster | - | Print cluster section. |
| -d, --print-detailed-topics | - | Print per-partition information for topics (implies -t). |
| -i, --print-internal-topics | - | Print internal topics (if all topics requested, implies -t). |
| -t, --print-topics | - | Print topics section (implied if any topics are specified). |
| --config | string | Redpanda or rpk config file; default search paths are /var/lib/redpanda/.config/rpk/rpk.yaml, $PWD/redpanda.yaml, and /etc/redpanda/redpanda.yaml. |
| -X, --config-opt | stringArray | Override rpk configuration settings. See rpk -X or execute rpk -X help for inline detail or rpk -X list for terser detail. |
| --profile | string | Profile to use. See rpk profile for more details. |
| -v, --verbose | - | Enable verbose logging. |