# Is there a way to get artifact metadata from the C# code?

**URL:** <https://hub.mender.io/t/is-there-a-way-to-get-artifact-metadata-from-the-c-code/1713>\
**Category:** General Discussions\
**Created:** [March 30, 2020, 10:47am UTC](https://hub.mender.io/t/is-there-a-way-to-get-artifact-metadata-from-the-c-code/1713 "2020-03-30T10:47:32Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![mirzak](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/hub.mender.io/mirzak/32/2056_2.png) [@mirzak](https://hub.mender.io/u/mirzak)\
**Post date:** [March 30, 2020, 10:47am UTC](https://hub.mender.io/t/is-there-a-way-to-get-artifact-metadata-from-the-c-code/1713/1 "2020-03-30T10:47:32Z")

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Got this question from a user per email. Though I would respond here so more could benefit from it.

> Is there a way to get artifact metadata from the C# code?

Mender Artifacts are basically tar archives, which can be unpacked,

```auto
$ tar xvf test.mender 
version
manifest
header.tar
data/0000.tar

```

The various files inside the Mender Artifact contain the metadata. You can find the full description of the Mender Artifact structure [here](https://github.com/mendersoftware/mender-artifact/blob/master/Documentation/artifact-format-v3.md)

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**Author:** ![genedupre](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/hub.mender.io/genedupre/32/289_2.png) [@genedupre](https://hub.mender.io/u/genedupre)\
**Post date:** [March 30, 2020, 12:45pm UTC](https://hub.mender.io/t/is-there-a-way-to-get-artifact-metadata-from-the-c-code/1713/2 "2020-03-30T12:45:52Z")

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Very interesting read, thank you for this.  
Now i understand technically how the mender-client was able to get the state scripts before installing the artifact itself