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docs: add spec-style description of the consolidated metadata format #4283

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docs: add spec-style description of the consolidated metadata format
d-v-b Aug 21, 2026
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Merge branch 'main' into claude/docs-consolidated-metadata-spec-6f3c45
d-v-b Aug 25, 2026
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Merge branch 'main' into claude/docs-consolidated-metadata-spec-6f3c45
d-v-b Aug 30, 2026
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Update docs/user-guide/consolidated_metadata_format.md
d-v-b Aug 30, 2026
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Update docs/user-guide/consolidated_metadata_format.md
d-v-b Aug 30, 2026
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Merge branch 'main' into claude/docs-consolidated-metadata-spec-6f3c45
d-v-b Aug 31, 2026
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10 changes: 7 additions & 3 deletions docs/user-guide/consolidated_metadata.md
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Expand Up @@ -11,6 +11,10 @@ entire hierarchy, especially when the metadata is being served over a network.
Consolidated metadata essentially stores all the metadata for a hierarchy in the
metadata of the root Group.

This page describes how to use consolidated metadata from Python. For a precise

@TomAugspurger TomAugspurger Aug 30, 2026

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I have some hesitancy about linking to this document from user-facing docs. I think the spec (or the PR for the spec) should be sufficient for users, and if it isn't then the docs should be improved there.

description of what is written to the store, intended for other implementations,
see [Consolidated metadata format](consolidated_metadata_format.md).

## Usage

If consolidated metadata is present in a Zarr Group's metadata then it is used
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -84,9 +88,9 @@ print(output.getvalue())
!!! info "Added in version 3.1.1"
The keys in the consolidated metadata are sorted prior to writing. Keys are
sorted in ascending order by path depth, where a path is defined as a sequence
of strings joined by `"/"`. For keys with the same path length, lexicographic
order is used to break the tie. This behavior ensures deterministic metadata
output for a given group.
of strings joined by `"/"`. For keys with the same depth, the tie is broken by
comparing the paths after Unicode NFKC normalization and case-folding. This
behavior ensures deterministic metadata output for a given group.
Comment on lines +91 to +93

@TomAugspurger TomAugspurger Aug 30, 2026

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This seems worse for causal readers.

Let's at least keep "lexicographic" (since it isn't incorrect, right?) And if we want to be more specific we can, but let's link to the Python docs on normalization.


### Controlling the use of consolidated metadata

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