---
id: META-1
family: RT-META
level: core
profiles: [runtime, editor-client]
posture: normative-target
added: "1.0"
changed: "1.0"
source: https://flowdrop.io/spec/rules/rt-meta/meta-1
specification: FlowDrop Workflow Specification 1.0-draft
licence: CC BY 4.0
---

# META-1 — The category list is the standard envelope, and its name is a machine name

*RT-META (Part II) · level: core · profiles: runtime, editor-client · added in 1.0*

This is the list that fills an editor's node sidebar. A consumer that treats `name` as human-readable renders a machine name to an author.

## The rule

> **Normative.** This is the rule.
>
> 1. The category list answers the standard `{success, data}` envelope; a cacheable response carries byte-identical envelope keys to a non-cacheable one, and a door must not hand-build a body to avoid it.
>
> 2. `data` is a list of rows whose keys are `name`, `label`, `icon`, `color`, `description`, in that order, every value a string.
>
> 3. `name` is the category's identifier, not a display name, and there is no separate `id` key.
>
> 4. Only enabled categories are published: a disabled one is absent rather than flagged, so a consumer cannot distinguish it from a deleted one.

## Related rules

- Referenced by: META-3, META-9

---

Rule identifiers are permanent and are never renumbered. This specification carries
no implementation status: each implementation publishes its own standing against
these rules. Licensed CC BY 4.0.