# EPUBCheck RSC-019: metadata.xml missing, how to fix it

Source: https://epubcc.com/epubcheck/rsc-019/ (updated 2026-11-04)

EPUBCheck RSC-019 is a warning message: “EPUBs with Multiple Renditions should contain a META-INF/metadata.xml file.” The EPUB contains several renditions (more than one package document) but no META-INF/metadata.xml file. The multiple-renditions format recommends that file for metadata that applies to the whole container.

- Official message (EPUBCheck 5.4.0): EPUBs with Multiple Renditions should contain a META-INF/metadata.xml file.
- Default severity: Warning

## Typical causes

- A container.xml with several rootfile elements, for example a reflowable and a fixed-layout version.
- A rendition added later to an existing book without the container-level metadata.

## How to fix it

1. Decide whether you really need several renditions; most books have only one package document.
2. If you do, add META-INF/metadata.xml with a metadata root element in the http://www.idpf.org/2013/metadata namespace.
3. Rebuild the archive and validate again.

## When it's not this

It is unrelated to the package document's own metadata, whose problems appear as OPF or RSC-005 messages.

## Sources

- EPUB 3.3, §4.2.6.3.4 Metadata file (metadata.xml): https://www.w3.org/TR/epub-33/#sec-container-metainf-metadata.xml (read 2026-11-04)
- EPUB 3.3, §4.2.6.3.1.3 The rootfile element: https://www.w3.org/TR/epub-33/#sec-container.xml-rootfile-elem (read 2026-11-04)

Message text and severity: EPUBCheck (W3C, BSD-3-Clause). Explanation: EpubCC.