diff --git a/src/db/projections.ts b/src/db/projections.ts
index dcb249f..c75b30d 100644
--- a/src/db/projections.ts
+++ b/src/db/projections.ts
@@ -83,7 +83,6 @@ export const printerProjection = projection(printers, [
   "cameraStream",
   "vendorState",
   "vendorErrorCode",
-  "metadata",
   "lastSeenAt",
   "createdAt",
   "updatedAt",
diff --git a/src/db/validators.ts b/src/db/validators.ts
index 5e9daa9..21a50b7 100644
--- a/src/db/validators.ts
+++ b/src/db/validators.ts
@@ -28,7 +28,14 @@ export const PrinterInsertSchema = createInsertSchema(printers, {
  * The columns a client may set on a printer, derived from the insert schema
  * above so a renamed column still fails to compile.
  *
- * Everything left out is owned by the gateway, not by the API: `status`, the
+ * `metadata` is deliberately not here, and nor is it in the projection. It is
+ * a free-form jsonb column that nothing reads, so leaving it open meant a
+ * well-meaning client could store a printer's access code in it and the API
+ * would serve it back - the same credential that was removed from the schema
+ * on purpose. The column stays, so reopening it is a one-line change once
+ * something actually needs it, with a shape to match.
+ *
+ * Everything else left out is owned by the gateway, not by the API: `status`, the
  * temperatures, layer counts, progress, `vendorState`, `lastSeenAt` and the
  * rest are written only by `persistTelemetry` in routes/ws/edge.ts. A client
  * that could POST `status: "idle"` could make the scheduler send work to a
@@ -47,7 +54,6 @@ export const PRINTER_WRITABLE = [
   "lanAddress",
   "serialNumber",
   "gatewayPrinterId",
-  "metadata",
 ] as const;
 
 export const PrinterCreateSchema = t.Pick(PrinterInsertSchema, PRINTER_WRITABLE);
diff --git a/tests/authz.test.ts b/tests/authz.test.ts
index ca64b0d..ec0c008 100644
--- a/tests/authz.test.ts
+++ b/tests/authz.test.ts
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ import { startDevAuthIssuer } from "../scripts/dev-auth";
 import { Value } from "@sinclair/typebox/value";
 import { printers } from "../src/db/schema";
 import { farmProjection, printerProjection } from "../src/db/projections";
-import { PrinterCreateSchema } from "../src/db/validators";
+import { PRINTER_WRITABLE, PrinterCreateSchema } from "../src/db/validators";
 
 const USER = "11111111-1111-1111-1111-111111111111";
 
@@ -297,14 +297,24 @@ describe("credentials the backend must not hold", () => {
     expect(Object.keys(farmProjection.columns)).not.toContain("edgeProxyToken");
   });
 
-  test("metadata is the remaining way a secret could reach the cloud", () => {
-    // Not a bug to fix here, but a hole to know about: `metadata` is a
-    // free-form jsonb column that is both writable and in the public
-    // projection, so a well-meaning client could stash an access code in it
-    // and the API would store it and serve it back. Removing the dedicated
-    // column narrowed the door; it did not close it. If this assertion ever
-    // fails because `metadata` left the projection, that is an improvement -
-    // delete the test.
-    expect(Object.keys(printerProjection.columns)).toContain("metadata");
+  test("printer metadata is neither writable nor served, so it cannot carry a secret", () => {
+    // `metadata` was the way around the access-code decision: a free-form
+    // jsonb column that was both writable and in the projection, so a client
+    // could stash a credential in it and read it back. It is now closed at
+    // both ends. Pinned as three assertions because either end reopening it
+    // alone (a writable field nobody can read, or a readable one nobody can
+    // write) is still half of the hole.
+    expect(Object.keys(printerProjection.columns)).not.toContain("metadata");
+
+    const cleaned = Value.Clean(PrinterCreateSchema, {
+      farmId: "3f2b1c5e-0000-4000-8000-000000000000",
+      name: "P1P",
+      vendor: "bambu" as const,
+      metadata: { accessCode: "SECRET123" },
+    }) as Record<string, unknown>;
+    expect(cleaned).not.toHaveProperty("metadata");
+    expect(cleaned.name).toBe("P1P");
+
+    expect(PRINTER_WRITABLE as readonly string[]).not.toContain("metadata");
   });
 });