Configuration and tags

Where values come from

Metadata is merged in this order, with later values replacing earlier values:

1. Helper defaults.
2. Configure::read('Meta'), normally from config/app.php.
3. Options passed to loadHelper('Meta.Meta', $options).
4. The _meta view variable available when the helper is constructed.
5. Calls to setter methods before output.

Partial robots arrays merge with the previous robots settings. Other metadata arrays replace the preceding array. Set _meta in the controller before the view is created:

$this->set('_meta', [
    'title' => 'About our team',
    'description' => 'Meet the people behind the project.',
    'robots' => ['index' => true, 'follow' => true, 'archive' => true],
    'canonical' => 'https://example.com/about',
]);

Defaults

Key	Default	Meaning
title	null	Derives a title from controller and action names when available.
charset	null	Enables CakePHP's configured charset. false disables it.
icon	null	Enables the default favicon. false disables it.
canonical	null	Omitted from out(). true uses the current request path.
language	null	Omitted. true derives it from intl.default_locale.
robots	all three flags false	Outputs noindex,nofollow,noarchive.
description, keywords, custom	[]	No values initially.
multiLanguage	true	Helper option controlling language-specific descriptions and keywords.

For example, merge this entry into the array returned by config/app.php:

'Meta' => [
    'robots' => ['index' => true, 'follow' => true, 'archive' => true],
    'language' => 'en',
],

multiLanguage belongs in the helper's loading options or setConfig(). It is not a metadata tag. With language: true, the helper reads the current intl.default_locale; CakePHP's I18n::setLocale() updates that value. Set language explicitly when you need a different tag value.

Common setters

$this->Meta->setTitle('Page title');
$this->Meta->setDescription('A short description.');
$this->Meta->setKeywords(['CakePHP', 'metadata']);
$this->Meta->setRobots('noindex,nofollow');
$this->Meta->setCanonical('https://example.com/page');
$this->Meta->setHttpEquiv('expires', '0');
$this->Meta->custom('viewport', 'width=device-width, initial-scale=1');

setRobots() accepts a string, an array of flags, or false to omit the tag. An array preserves unspecified flags from an existing robots array. Replacing a string value with an array starts a new flag map. setCanonical() accepts a string, a CakePHP URL array, true, or false. Use an explicit absolute URL for a public canonical address. getCanonical(true) requests a full base URL for relative or route-array values, using CakePHP's configured base URL. Automatic canonical paths omit query parameters.

custom() stores and immediately returns its tag. You can call it without echo before out(), or output its return value directly and skip custom in the combined output to avoid duplicates.

Icons

$this->Meta->setIcon('/favicon.ico');
$this->Meta->setSizesIcon('/favicon-32x32.png', 32, ['type' => 'image/png']);
$this->Meta->setSizesIcon('/apple-touch-icon.png', 180, ['prefix' => 'apple-touch-']);

Sized icons appear in out(). getSizesIcon($url) retrieves one stored icon, and getSizesIcons() retrieves all of them.

Languages

$this->Meta->setLanguage('en');
$this->Meta->setDescription('English description.', 'en');
$this->Meta->setDescription('Deutsche Beschreibung.', 'de');
$this->Meta->setKeywords(['CakePHP', 'metadata'], 'en');

With multiLanguage: true, descriptions and keywords output all stored language entries. A wildcard entry (*) is omitted when explicit language entries exist. You can retrieve one language with getDescription('en') or getKeywords('en').

With multiLanguage: false, combined getters select the current language and fall back to its base language (such as de for de-DE), then a wildcard entry. If only one entry exists, it is retained even without a matching locale. Setting a different language through the setters raises RuntimeException when a current language is configured. Set the page's language before its description and keywords.

Output

echo $this->Meta->out(null, ['skip' => ['icon', 'custom'], 'implode' => "\n"]);
echo $this->Meta->out('description');

Use one of these forms for each tag to avoid duplicate output. skip applies to metadata groups; JSON-LD remains included in the combined output. Individual getters are available for titles, charset, icons, canonical URLs, robots, language, descriptions, keywords, HTTP equivalents, and structured data.