---
title: "Describe a specific table version"
method: POST
path: "/v1/table/{id}/version/describe"
tags: ["Table", "Metadata"]
---

# Describe a specific table version

`POST /v1/table/{id}/version/describe`

Describe the detailed information for a specific version of table `id`.

Returns the manifest path and metadata for the specified version.

## Request body

- DescribeTableVersionRequest — Request to describe a specific table version
  - `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[] — The table identifier
  - `version` integer — Version number to describe
  - `branch` string — Branch to target. When not specified, the main branch is used.

## Response `200`

Table version information

- DescribeTableVersionResponse — Response containing the table version information
  - `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"}`.
  - `version` TableVersion, required
    - `version` integer, required — Version number
    - `manifest_path` string, required — Path to the manifest file for this version.
    - `manifest_size` integer — Size of the manifest file in bytes
    - `e_tag` string — Optional ETag for optimistic concurrency control. Useful for S3 and similar object stores.
    - `timestamp_millis` integer — Timestamp when the version was created, in milliseconds since epoch (Unix time)
    - `metadata` object — Optional key-value pairs of metadata

## 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/versions/d5b7c114f475/schema)