# Tokens and default meta tags

## What is a token

A *token* is a formatted chunks of text that serves as a placeholder for a dynamically generated value. For example \[site:name] serves as a placeholder for a site's name.

## How tokens are used to populate default meta tags

![Image of search results](https://1079433754-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F-Lyh9JMywljz0CN8oT8o%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-8b82aee5a274e309d351d67bdaf6b803342406c2%2FUnit-8-Tokens-1.png?alt=media)

The search result screenshot above outlines “tokens” that are automatically replaced by GovCMS when content is created or updated. The tokens in use are:

1. \[node:title] - title of the page, taken from the page's *Title* field.
2. \[site:name] - the name of the site (GovCMS in this case).
3. \[node:summary] - an automatically generated summary of the page contents.