# Data Object Metadata

Metadata makes it easier to keep your projects organized. While some metadata is pre-set and can't be changed, you can set values for the following metadata fields:

* [Name](/developer/api/introduction-to-data-object-metadata/name.md): an arbitrary UTF-8 string
* [Properties](/developer/api/introduction-to-data-object-metadata/properties.md): a key-value store
* [Tags](/developer/api/introduction-to-data-object-metadata/tags.md): a collection of strings

User-defined metadata is particularly useful in [search queries](/developer/api/search.md).

## Project-specificity of metadata

User-defined metadata is project-specific. Within different projects, the same object can have different metadata.


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