---
title: "List the metadata paths a business already uses, for suggestions"
description: "Reads the most recent 5,000 records of the entity: top-level keys and one level under object values."
canonical_url: "https://twominutebilling.com/help/developers/api-reference/metadata-rules/list-the-metadata-paths-a-business-already-uses"
---
# List the metadata paths a business already uses, for suggestions

> Reads the most recent 5,000 records of the entity: top-level keys and one level under object values.

<api-operation method="GET" path="/v1/businesses/{biz}/metadata_observed_keys">
<template v-slot:docs="">

Values are returned only for a path with at most 20 distinct values that are all short scalars. Cached for about 5 minutes.

## Path parameters

<table>
<thead>
  <tr>
    <th>
      Parameter
    </th>
    
    <th>
      Type
    </th>
    
    <th>
      Required
    </th>
    
    <th>
      Description
    </th>
  </tr>
</thead>

<tbody>
  <tr>
    <td>
      <code>
        biz
      </code>
    </td>
    
    <td>
      <code>
        string
      </code>
    </td>
    
    <td>
      <strong>
        yes
      </strong>
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Business id (biz_…)
    </td>
  </tr>
</tbody>
</table>

## Query parameters

<table>
<thead>
  <tr>
    <th>
      Parameter
    </th>
    
    <th>
      Type
    </th>
    
    <th>
      Required
    </th>
    
    <th>
      Description
    </th>
  </tr>
</thead>

<tbody>
  <tr>
    <td>
      <code>
        entity_type
      </code>
    </td>
    
    <td>
      <code>
        string
      </code>
    </td>
    
    <td>
      <strong>
        yes
      </strong>
    </td>
    
    <td>
      The kind of record to sample.
    </td>
  </tr>
</tbody>
</table>

## Response

<table>
<thead>
  <tr>
    <th>
      Field
    </th>
    
    <th>
      Type
    </th>
    
    <th>
      Description
    </th>
  </tr>
</thead>

<tbody>
  <tr>
    <td>
      <code>
        object
      </code>
    </td>
    
    <td>
      <code>
        string
      </code>
    </td>
    
    <td>
      The object type.
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      <code>
        entity_type
      </code>
    </td>
    
    <td>
      <code>
        string
      </code>
    </td>
    
    <td>
      The kind of record that was sampled. One of <code>
        customer
      </code>
      
      , <code>
        subscription
      </code>
      
      .
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      <code>
        sample_size
      </code>
    </td>
    
    <td>
      <code>
        integer
      </code>
    </td>
    
    <td>
      How many records were sampled.
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      <code>
        data
      </code>
    </td>
    
    <td>
      <code>
        array of object
      </code>
    </td>
    
    <td>
      The rows on this page.
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      <code>
        data.object
      </code>
    </td>
    
    <td>
      <code>
        string
      </code>
    </td>
    
    <td>
      The object type.
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      <code>
        data.path
      </code>
    </td>
    
    <td>
      <code>
        string
      </code>
    </td>
    
    <td>
      The key's path, with dots for nested keys.
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      <code>
        data.rows
      </code>
    </td>
    
    <td>
      <code>
        integer
      </code>
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Sampled records that hold a non-null value here
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      <code>
        data.type
      </code>
    </td>
    
    <td>
      <code>
        string
      </code>
    </td>
    
    <td>
      The JSON type most records hold One of <code>
        string
      </code>
      
      , <code>
        number
      </code>
      
      , <code>
        boolean
      </code>
      
      , <code>
        object
      </code>
      
      , <code>
        array
      </code>
      
      , <code>
        null
      </code>
      
      .
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      <code>
        data.distinct_values
      </code>
    </td>
    
    <td>
      <code>
        integer
      </code>
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Number of distinct values seen for the key.
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      <code>
        data.values
      </code>
    </td>
    
    <td>
      <code>
        array of object
      </code>
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Top values, or null when the path has many or long values
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      <code>
        data.item_values
      </code>
    </td>
    
    <td>
      <code>
        array of object
      </code>
    </td>
    
    <td>
      For an array path: top item values, under the same limits
    </td>
  </tr>
</tbody>
</table>

## Status codes

<table>
<thead>
  <tr>
    <th>
      Status
    </th>
    
    <th>
      Meaning
    </th>
  </tr>
</thead>

<tbody>
  <tr>
    <td>
      <code>
        200
      </code>
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Success
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      <code>
        400
      </code>
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Missing or unsupported entity_type
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      <code>
        404
      </code>
    </td>
    
    <td>
      No such business
    </td>
  </tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</template>

<template v-slot:request="">

```bash [Request]
curl "$TMBILLING_URL/v1/businesses/biz_XXXXXXXXXXXX01/metadata_observed_keys?entity_type=customer" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TMBILLING_API_KEY"
```

</template>

<template v-slot:response="">
<code-group>

```json [200 OK]
{
  "object": "list",
  "entity_type": "customer",
  "sample_size": 5000,
  "data": [
    {
      "object": "metadata_observed_key",
      "path": "limit_overrides.accounts",
      "rows": 1,
      "type": "string",
      "distinct_values": 1,
      "values": [
        {
          "value": "West",
          "rows": 1
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}
```

```json [400 Bad Request]
{
  "error": {
    "type": "invalid_request_error",
    "message": "Missing or unsupported entity_type"
  }
}
```

```json [404 Not Found]
{
  "error": {
    "type": "invalid_request_error",
    "message": "No such business"
  }
}
```

</code-group>
</template>
</api-operation>


## Sitemap

See the full [sitemap](https://twominutebilling.com/sitemap.md) for all pages.