01 Standard
Token metadata explained
Where a token name, symbol and image actually live: the Metaplex metadata account, the off-chain JSON it points at, the Token-2022 alternative, and the length limits on every field.
Open the noteMetadata: the part that is displayed but not owned
Under the original SPL Token program, a mint has no name. It has a supply, a decimals byte and two optional authority fields, and that is all. Everything a wallet shows you comes from a separate account created by a different program, which is why two tokens can display the identical ticker without either of them being invalid.
This bench covers where that display information sits, how much of it is on chain, how much is a URL pointing somewhere else, and who is allowed to rewrite it after people already hold the token. The update rules matter more than the fields themselves.
- What this bench covers
- The Metaplex metadata account and its derivation, on-chain field limits, the off-chain JSON, the Token-2022 metadata extension, and the mutable flag.
- What it does not cover
- Logo design, hosting recommendations, listing applications, or any technique for making a token look like an established one.
- Where it hands off
- Supply and authority questions belong to the minting bench. What a launchpad writes into metadata on your behalf belongs to launchpads.
2 notes on this bench
A name and a symbol are not part of the token. They live in a separate account, or in a mint extension, owned by an update authority that can usually rewrite them at any time.
02 Comparison
Immutable vs updatable metadata
Freezing metadata removes a repair path as well as a risk. The honest trade between an immutable record and a maintainable one, and what each choice tells a reader.
Open the noteWhere the metadata bench stops
Metadata is the layer most readers judge a token by and the layer with the weakest guarantees. A name is thirty-two bytes of free text, a symbol is ten, and the image is not on chain at all: it is a URL inside a JSON document that a server has to keep serving.
The workshop treats that gap as the point. Understanding that display data is separate, editable by default and unverified by the token program is what turns a wallet screen from evidence into a starting point for the checks on the launchpads bench.