diff --git a/cmd/wsh/cmd/wshcmd-getmeta.go b/cmd/wsh/cmd/wshcmd-getmeta.go
index 2f1b1af8d..0edf3d151 100644
--- a/cmd/wsh/cmd/wshcmd-getmeta.go
+++ b/cmd/wsh/cmd/wshcmd-getmeta.go
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ package cmd
 
 import (
 	"encoding/json"
+	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 	"github.com/wavetermdev/waveterm/pkg/wshrpc"
@@ -12,15 +13,59 @@ import (
 )
 
 var getMetaCmd = &cobra.Command{
-	Use:     "getmeta [key]",
+	Use:     "getmeta [key...]",
 	Short:   "get metadata for an entity",
-	Args:    cobra.RangeArgs(0, 1),
+	Long:    "Get metadata for an entity. Keys can be exact matches or patterns like 'name:*' to get all keys that start with 'name:'",
+	Args:    cobra.ArbitraryArgs,
 	Run:     getMetaRun,
 	PreRunE: preRunSetupRpcClient,
 }
 
+var getMetaRawOutput bool
+var getMetaClearPrefix bool
+
 func init() {
 	rootCmd.AddCommand(getMetaCmd)
+	getMetaCmd.Flags().BoolVar(&getMetaRawOutput, "raw", false, "output singleton string values without quotes")
+	getMetaCmd.Flags().BoolVar(&getMetaClearPrefix, "clear-prefix", false, "output the special clearing key for prefix queries")
+}
+
+func filterMetaKeys(meta map[string]interface{}, keys []string) map[string]interface{} {
+	result := make(map[string]interface{})
+
+	// Process each requested key
+	for _, key := range keys {
+		if strings.HasSuffix(key, ":*") {
+			// Handle pattern matching
+			prefix := strings.TrimSuffix(key, "*")
+			baseKey := strings.TrimSuffix(prefix, ":")
+
+			if getMetaClearPrefix {
+				result[key] = true
+			}
+
+			// Include the base key without colon if it exists
+			if val, exists := meta[baseKey]; exists {
+				result[baseKey] = val
+			}
+
+			// Include all keys with the prefix
+			for k, v := range meta {
+				if strings.HasPrefix(k, prefix) {
+					result[k] = v
+				}
+			}
+		} else {
+			// Handle exact key match
+			if val, exists := meta[key]; exists {
+				result[key] = val
+			} else {
+				result[key] = nil
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	return result
 }
 
 func getMetaRun(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
@@ -44,25 +89,34 @@ func getMetaRun(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
 		WriteStderr("[error] getting metadata: %v\n", err)
 		return
 	}
+
+	var output interface{}
 	if len(args) > 0 {
-		val, ok := resp[args[0]]
-		if !ok {
-			return
+		if len(args) == 1 && !strings.HasSuffix(args[0], ":*") {
+			// Single key case - output just the value
+			output = resp[args[0]]
+		} else {
+			// Multiple keys or pattern matching case - output object
+			output = filterMetaKeys(resp, args)
 		}
-		outBArr, err := json.MarshalIndent(val, "", "  ")
-		if err != nil {
-			WriteStderr("[error] formatting metadata: %v\n", err)
-			return
-		}
-		outStr := string(outBArr)
-		WriteStdout("%s\n", outStr)
 	} else {
-		outBArr, err := json.MarshalIndent(resp, "", "  ")
-		if err != nil {
-			WriteStderr("[error] formatting metadata: %v\n", err)
+		// No args case - output full metadata
+		output = resp
+	}
+
+	// Handle raw string output
+	if getMetaRawOutput {
+		if str, ok := output.(string); ok {
+			WriteStdout("%s\n", str)
 			return
 		}
-		outStr := string(outBArr)
-		WriteStdout("%s\n", outStr)
 	}
+
+	outBArr, err := json.MarshalIndent(output, "", "  ")
+	if err != nil {
+		WriteStderr("[error] formatting metadata: %v\n", err)
+		return
+	}
+	outStr := string(outBArr)
+	WriteStdout("%s\n", outStr)
 }