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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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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
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.

### Controlling the use of consolidated metadata

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