# Metadata is an interface Metadata only has value if something reads it. A query, a view, an automation, an AI agent, your future self. No reader? Then it's not metadata; it's clutter. Digital dust accumulating. Which gives you a brutally effective rule: before adding a field, ask "what will read this?". If you can't name a query, a view, or an automation, don't add the field. This single question prevents most metadata sprawl: the 200-property vault where half the fields are used exactly once and nobody remembers why. Interfaces are designed for their consumers. Metadata should be too. That's also why [[A property is a promise]]: an interface that means different things to different callers is a broken interface. ## Related - [[A property is a promise]] - [[Obsidian Properties]] - [[When you take a note, you need to add a minimum of metadata]] - [[Discipline doesn't scale, automation does]] - [[The Complete Guide to Obsidian Properties (Article)]]