---
title: "Describe a namespace"
method: POST
path: "/v1/namespace/{id}/describe"
tags: ["Namespace", "Metadata"]
---

# Describe a namespace

`POST /v1/namespace/{id}/describe`

Describe the detailed information for namespace `id`.

## Request body

- DescribeNamespaceRequest
  - `identity` Identity — Identity information of a request.
    - `api_key` string — API key for authentication. REST NAMESPACE ONLY This is passed via the `x-api-key` header.
    - `auth_token` string — Bearer token for authentication. REST NAMESPACE ONLY This is passed via the `Authorization` header with the Bearer scheme (e.g., `Bearer <token>`).
  - `context` Context — Arbitrary context as key-value pairs. How to use the context is custom to the specific implementation. On a request, it carries caller-provided context to the implementation. On a response, it carries implementation-provided context back to the caller. REST NAMESPACE ONLY Context entries are mapped to and from HTTP headers using the `header.` prefix: - On a request, any entry whose key starts with `header.` is sent as an HTTP request header with the prefix stripped. For example, the entry `{"header.Authorization": "Bearer abc"}` is sent as the request header `Authorization: Bearer abc`. - On a response, every HTTP response header is returned as an entry whose key is the header name prefixed with `header.`. For example, the response header `x-request-id: abc123` is returned as the entry `{"header.x-request-id": "abc123"}`.
  - `id` string[]

## Response `200`

Returns a namespace, as well as any properties stored on the namespace if namespace properties are supported by the server.

- DescribeNamespaceResponse
  - `context` Context — Arbitrary context as key-value pairs. How to use the context is custom to the specific implementation. On a request, it carries caller-provided context to the implementation. On a response, it carries implementation-provided context back to the caller. REST NAMESPACE ONLY Context entries are mapped to and from HTTP headers using the `header.` prefix: - On a request, any entry whose key starts with `header.` is sent as an HTTP request header with the prefix stripped. For example, the entry `{"header.Authorization": "Bearer abc"}` is sent as the request header `Authorization: Bearer abc`. - On a response, every HTTP response header is returned as an entry whose key is the header name prefixed with `header.`. For example, the response header `x-request-id: abc123` is returned as the entry `{"header.x-request-id": "abc123"}`.
  - `properties` object, nullable — Properties stored on the namespace, if supported by the server. If the server does not support namespace properties, it should return null for this field. If namespace properties are supported, but none are set, it should return an empty object.

## Other responses

- `400` — Indicates a bad request error. It could be caused by an unexpected request body format or other forms of request validation failure, such as invalid json. Usually serves application/json content, although in some cases simple text/plain content might be returned by the server's middleware.
- `401` — Unauthorized. The request lacks valid authentication credentials for the operation.
- `403` — Forbidden. Authenticated user does not have the necessary permissions.
- `404` — A server-side problem that means can not find the specified resource.
- `503` — The service is not ready to handle the request. The client should wait and retry. The service may additionally send a Retry-After header to indicate when to retry.
- `5XX` — A server-side problem that might not be addressable from the client side. Used for server 5xx errors without more specific documentation in individual routes.

---

[API](https://skmtc.net/lancedb/apis/lance-namespace-specification.md) · [All operations](https://skmtc.net/lancedb/apis/lance-namespace-specification/llms.txt) · [OpenAPI document](https://skmtc-service-staging.skmtc.workers.dev/v1/apis/lancedb/lance-namespace-specification/revisions/d5b7c114f475/schema)