# Describing Metadata Types

:::note
The Ant Migration Tool is retired with Spring ’24. The tool continues to function as-is for future API versions but isn’t updated with new functionality and isn’t supported. If Salesforce adds a new feature that is incompatible with Ant, the Ant Migration Tool won't be updated to support it. To manage metadata changes, switch to Salesforce CLI for a modern, supported developer experience.
:::

The `describeMetadata` target returns a list of metadata types that are enabled for your organization. This target is useful when you want to identify the syntax needed for a metadata type in a `<name>` element in package.xml; for example, `CustomObject` for custom objects or `Layout` for page layouts. The following parameters may be set for each `<sf:describeMetadata>` target:

| Field            | Description                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             |
| ---------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `username`       | Required if `sessionId` isn’t specified. The Salesforce username used for login. The username associated with this connection must have the Modify Metadata through Metadata API Functions permission.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  |
| `password`       | Required if `sessionId` isn’t specified. The password you use to log in to the organization associated with this project. If you are using a security token, paste the 25-digit token value to the end of your password.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                |
| `sessionId`      | Required if `username` and `password` aren’t specified. The ID of an active Salesforce session or the OAuth access token. A session is created after a user logs in to Salesforce successfully with a username and password. Use a session ID for logging in to an existing session instead of creating a new session. Alternatively, use an access token for OAuth authentication. For more information, see [Authenticating Apps with OAuth](https://help.salesforce.com/apex/HTViewHelpDoc?id=remoteaccess_authenticate.htm) in the Salesforce Help. |
| `serverurl`      | Optional. The Salesforce server URL (if blank, defaults to `login.salesforce.com`). To connect to a sandbox instance, change this value to `test.salesforce.com`.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       |
| `apiVersion`     | Optional. The API version to use for the metadata. The default is 68.0.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 |
| `resultFilePath` | Optional. The path of the output file where results are stored. The default output is the console. Directing the output to a file makes it easier to extract the relevant information for your package.xml manifest file.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               |
| `trace`          | Optional. Defaults to `false`. Prints the SOAP requests and responses to the console. This option shows the user’s password in plain text during login.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 |

To get the list of metadata types enabled for your organization, specify a target in the build.xml file using `<sf:describeMetadata>`.

```xml
<target name="describeMetadata">
  <sf:describeMetadata
    username="${sf.username}"
    password="${sf.password}"
    sessionId="${sf.sessionId}"
    serverurl="${sf.serverurl}"
    resultFilePath="describeMetadata/describe.log"/>
</target>
```