# How do you copy layer metadata to another layer?

**URL:** <https://forum.aousd.org/t/how-do-you-copy-layer-metadata-to-another-layer/2711>\
**Category:** USD\
**Created:** [October 2, 2025, 3:59pm UTC](https://forum.aousd.org/t/how-do-you-copy-layer-metadata-to-another-layer/2711 "2025-10-02T15:59:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![nostromo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9dc877/32.png) [@nostromo](https://forum.aousd.org/u/nostromo)\
**Post date:** [October 2, 2025, 3:59pm UTC](https://forum.aousd.org/t/how-do-you-copy-layer-metadata-to-another-layer/2711/1 "2025-10-02T15:59:00Z")

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I need to copy just the layer metadata from one layer to another, how do I do that with the Sdf API?

Imagine I have a layer like this:

`# usda 1.0`  
`(`  
` some = “stuff”`  
` more = 123.4`  
` upAxis = “Z”`  
`)`

And I want to get a handle to that Sdf.Layer in Python and then copy its data, raw, to another Sdf.Layer. How do I do it? I can only think of TransferContent but that copies everything (layer metadata, PrimSpecs, etc), not just the data that I needed.

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**Author:** ![spiff](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.aousd.org/spiff/32/22_2.png) [@spiff](https://forum.aousd.org/u/spiff)\
**Post date:** [October 2, 2025, 7:24pm UTC](https://forum.aousd.org/t/how-do-you-copy-layer-metadata-to-another-layer/2711/2 "2025-10-02T19:24:21Z")

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[UsdUtils.CopyLayerMetadata()](https://openusd.org/dev/api/authoring_8h.html#a7c97106533feb0cb3d47f3b80f57772c) should already do what you want, or you can examine its implementation!

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![nostromo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9dc877/32.png) [@nostromo](https://forum.aousd.org/u/nostromo)\
**Post date:** [October 2, 2025, 7:29pm UTC](https://forum.aousd.org/t/how-do-you-copy-layer-metadata-to-another-layer/2711/3 "2025-10-02T19:29:28Z")

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I should’ve thought to check UsdUtils. I’ve gotten rusty. Thanks spiff!