What Changed
Acquia DAM now provides automated metadata synchronization for assets using the assets update workflow. When metadata changes in Acquia DAM (titles, descriptions, custom fields), those changes automatically sync to Drupal via cron without manual intervention.
Key features:
- Queue-based processing - Asset updates queued via acquia_dam_asset_update queue
- Automated via cron - Metadata syncs during regular cron runs
- Field mapping support - Syncs all mapped metadata fields from DAM to Drupal
What This Solves
Before: Metadata changes in Acquia DAM required manual intervention to sync to Drupal. Users had to click "Sync metadata" on each media item individually.
After: Metadata changes automatically sync during cron runs. Updates to titles, descriptions, alt text, and custom metadata fields flow from DAM to Drupal without manual action.
How It Works
- Asset monitoring - Cron checks for metadata updates on all synced DAM assets
- Queue population - Changed assets are added to the
acquia_dam_asset_updatequeue - Queue processing - Metadata updates are applied to Drupal media entities
- Field updates - Mapped fields are updated with new values from DAM
Setup Requirements
Configure metadata mapping:
- Navigate to
/admin/config/acquia-dam/metadata - Enable the metadata fields you want to sync
- Edit your media type at
/admin/structure/media/manage/{media_type} - Map metadata fields to Drupal fields in the "Map fields" section
Ensure cron runs regularly:
drush cron
Recommended: Run the cron every 30 minutes for timely updates.
What Syncs
Automatically synced metadata:
- Asset titles and names
- Descriptions and alt text
- Custom metadata fields
- Version information
Not synced:
- Entity reference fields (unsupported)
- Complex multi-value fields
Benefits
✅ Governance in DAM - Single source of truth for asset metadata
✅ Automatic updates - No manual "Sync metadata" clicks required
✅ Consistency - Drupal always reflects current DAM metadata
✅ Scalable - Queue-based processing handles large asset libraries
