In short. Restrict Metatag configuration with Administer meta tags, control its content field with Field Permissions, and enable Metatag Extended Permissions for individual tags.
Definition: Drupal's Metatag module manages page metadata, including titles and descriptions. Restricting changes requires permissions for its settings pages and field access controls for content forms; Metatag Extended Permissions adds access checks for individual tags.
Key facts
- As of 17 October 2026, Metatag's permission definition assigns Administer meta tags to its settings pages and directs field access control to Field Permissions or custom code.
- The bundled extension's module definition names it Metatag Extended Permissions, with the machine name
metatag_extended_perms. - The extension's usage instructions place its permission assignments at
admin/people/permissions. - The Field Permissions README provides separate controls for creating values, editing an owner's values and editing anyone's values.
Which permission controls the settings pages?
Metatag's permissions file defines Administer meta tags and marks it as restricted access. This permission belongs with roles responsible for Metatag configuration. The same definition explicitly separates this permission from access to the Metatag field on content forms.
The Metatag README places default metadata configuration at this path:
/admin/config/search/metatag
Global defaults supply the base values. Entity types, such as content pages or taxonomy terms, inherit those defaults, and individual content types can have additional overrides. To customize metadata on an individual content item, the documentation requires adding a Metatag field through the bundle's Manage fields interface.
How is editing the whole Metatag field restricted?
The Field Permissions documentation describes an option called Field visibility and permissions on the field settings form. The Custom permissions setting exposes a matrix for granting the Metatag field permissions to the appropriate roles. The permission matrix is available directly on that form and on Administer > People > Permissions.
Creation and subsequent editing have separate permissions. A role can receive access to edit values on entities it owns or on anyone's entities. Viewing also has its own permissions. Field permissions require explicit activation for each field; otherwise access follows the entity's view or edit permissions.
How does the individual-tag extension work?
The Metatag Extended Permissions README instructs administrators to enable the extension and assign its permissions here:
admin/people/permissions
Its permission generator builds a permission for each tag, labelled with the tag and its group. The extension's widget access implementation applies these checks to the MetatagFirehose field widget. It initially hides the widget and each group, then makes them accessible when the account has permission for at least one tag within them.
The README recommends testing on a site copy before production use. Additional permission checkboxes can cause slow forms, timeout or memory errors, and failures when the permissions form reaches PHP's max_input_vars limit.
Related terms
- How do I set default meta tags in Drupal's Metatag module?
- How do I use tokens in Drupal meta tag templates?
- How do I set noindex on a Drupal content page?
- How do I set canonical links with Drupal Metatag?
FAQ
Where is Metatag Advanced Permissions?
The bundled extension is named Metatag Extended Permissions in its module definition. Look for metatag_extended_perms when checking the installed module's files.
Can I restrict editors to their own metadata values?
Yes. Field Permissions distinguishes editing values on an entity you own from editing anyone's values, and provides a separate permission for creating a value.
Can I hide entire tag groups on a content type?
The Metatag README documents group availability per entity bundle at /admin/config/search/metatag/settings. Its example keeps Favicon tags available for global configuration while hiding them on entity forms.
Sources
- Drupal Metatag project, "metatag.permissions.yml", release 2.2.0
- Drupal Metatag project, "metatag_extended_perms.info.yml", release 2.2.0
- Drupal Metatag project, "Metatag Extended Permissions README.txt", release 2.2.0
- Drupal Field Permissions project, "README.md", release 8.x-1.5
- Drupal Metatag project, "README.md", release 2.2.0
- Drupal Metatag project, "MetatagPermissions.php", release 2.2.0
- Drupal Metatag project, "metatag_extended_perms.module", release 2.2.0
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