diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index bff9e06..e1ee0bb 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -36,11 +36,12 @@ var cli struct {
 	} `cmd:"" help:"Convert an MBTiles or older spec version to PMTiles."`
 
 	Show struct {
-		Path      string `arg:""`
-		Bucket    string `help:"Remote bucket"`
-		Metadata  bool   `help:"Print only the JSON metadata."`
-		Tilejson  bool   `help:"Print the TileJSON."`
-		PublicURL string `help:"Public base URL of tile endpoint for TileJSON e.g. https://example.com/tiles"`
+		Path       string `arg:""`
+		Bucket     string `help:"Remote bucket"`
+		Metadata   bool   `help:"Print only the JSON metadata."`
+		HeaderJson bool   `help:Print a JSON representation of the header information.`
+		Tilejson   bool   `help:"Print the TileJSON."`
+		PublicURL  string `help:"Public base URL of tile endpoint for TileJSON e.g. https://example.com/tiles"`
 	} `cmd:"" help:"Inspect a local or remote archive."`
 
 	Tile struct {
@@ -51,6 +52,17 @@ var cli struct {
 		Bucket string `help:"Remote bucket"`
 	} `cmd:"" help:"Fetch one tile from a local or remote archive and output on stdout."`
 
+	WriteHeader struct {
+		Input      string `arg:"" help:"Input archive file." type:"existingfile"`
+		HeaderJsonFile string `arg:"" help:"Input header JSON (written by show --header-json)." type:"existingfile"`
+	} `cmd:"" help:"Write header data to an existing archive in-place."`
+
+	WriteMetadata struct {
+		Input    string `arg:"" help:"Input archive file." type:"existingfile"`
+		MetadataFile string `arg:"" help:"Input metadata JSON." type:"existingfile"`
+		Tmpdir   string `help:"An optional path to a folder for tmp data." type:"existingdir"`
+	} `cmd:"" help:"Write JSON metadata to an existing archive in-place."`
+
 	Extract struct {
 		Input           string  `arg:"" help:"Input local or remote archive."`
 		Output          string  `arg:"" help:"Output archive." type:"path"`
@@ -122,12 +134,12 @@ func main() {
 
 	switch ctx.Command() {
 	case "show <path>":
-		err := pmtiles.Show(logger, cli.Show.Bucket, cli.Show.Path, cli.Show.Metadata, cli.Show.Tilejson, cli.Show.PublicURL, false, 0, 0, 0)
+		err := pmtiles.Show(logger, cli.Show.Bucket, cli.Show.Path, cli.Show.HeaderJson, cli.Show.Metadata, cli.Show.Tilejson, cli.Show.PublicURL, false, 0, 0, 0)
 		if err != nil {
 			logger.Fatalf("Failed to show archive, %v", err)
 		}
 	case "tile <path> <z> <x> <y>":
-		err := pmtiles.Show(logger, cli.Tile.Bucket, cli.Tile.Path, false, false, "", true, cli.Tile.Z, cli.Tile.X, cli.Tile.Y)
+		err := pmtiles.Show(logger, cli.Tile.Bucket, cli.Tile.Path, false, false, false, "", true, cli.Tile.Z, cli.Tile.X, cli.Tile.Y)
 		if err != nil {
 			logger.Fatalf("Failed to show tile, %v", err)
 		}
diff --git a/pmtiles/directory.go b/pmtiles/directory.go
index 5820810..00bc6ef 100644
--- a/pmtiles/directory.go
+++ b/pmtiles/directory.go
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import (
 	"bytes"
 	"compress/gzip"
 	"encoding/binary"
+	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 )
 
@@ -63,6 +64,23 @@ type HeaderV3 struct {
 	CenterLatE7         int32
 }
 
+// HeaderJson is a human-readable representation of parts of the binary header
+// that may need to be manually edited.
+// Omitted parts are the responsibility of the generated program and not editable.
+type HeaderJson struct {
+	TileCompression string
+	TileType        string
+	MinZoom         int
+	MaxZoom         int
+	MinLon          float64
+	MinLat          float64
+	MaxLon          float64
+	MaxLat          float64
+	CenterZoom      int
+	CenterLon       float64
+	CenterLat       float64
+}
+
 func headerContentType(header HeaderV3) (string, bool) {
 	switch header.TileType {
 	case Mvt:
@@ -80,23 +98,31 @@ func headerContentType(header HeaderV3) (string, bool) {
 	}
 }
 
-func headerExt(header HeaderV3) string {
-	switch header.TileType {
+func stringifiedTileType(t TileType) string {
+	switch t {
 	case Mvt:
-		return ".mvt"
+		return "mvt"
 	case Png:
-		return ".png"
+		return "png"
 	case Jpeg:
-		return ".jpg"
+		return "jpg"
 	case Webp:
-		return ".webp"
+		return "webp"
 	case Avif:
-		return ".avif"
+		return "avif"
 	default:
 		return ""
 	}
 }
 
+func headerExt(header HeaderV3) string {
+	base := stringifiedTileType(header.TileType)
+	if base == "" {
+		return ""
+	}
+	return "." + base
+}
+
 func headerContentEncoding(compression Compression) (string, bool) {
 	switch compression {
 	case Gzip:
@@ -108,6 +134,28 @@ func headerContentEncoding(compression Compression) (string, bool) {
 	}
 }
 
+func headerToJson(header HeaderV3) HeaderJson {
+	compressionString, _ := headerContentEncoding(header.TileCompression)
+	return HeaderJson{
+		TileCompression: compressionString,
+		TileType:        stringifiedTileType(header.TileType),
+		MinZoom:         int(header.MinZoom),
+		MaxZoom:         int(header.MaxZoom),
+		MinLon:          float64(header.MinLonE7) / 10000000,
+		MinLat:          float64(header.MinLatE7) / 10000000,
+		MaxLon:          float64(header.MaxLonE7) / 10000000,
+		MaxLat:          float64(header.MaxLatE7) / 10000000,
+		CenterZoom:      int(header.CenterZoom),
+		CenterLon:       float64(header.CenterLonE7) / 10000000,
+		CenterLat:       float64(header.CenterLatE7) / 10000000,
+	}
+}
+
+func headerToStringifiedJson(header HeaderV3) string {
+	s, _ := json.Marshal(headerToJson(header))
+	return string(s)
+}
+
 // EntryV3 is an entry in a PMTiles spec version 3 directory.
 type EntryV3 struct {
 	TileID    uint64
diff --git a/pmtiles/directory_test.go b/pmtiles/directory_test.go
index a5a8399..01f9f59 100644
--- a/pmtiles/directory_test.go
+++ b/pmtiles/directory_test.go
@@ -84,6 +84,33 @@ func TestHeaderRoundtrip(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.Equal(t, int32(32000000), result.CenterLatE7)
 }
 
+func TestHeaderJsonRoundtrip(t *testing.T) {
+	header := HeaderV3{}
+	header.TileCompression = Brotli
+	header.TileType = Mvt
+	header.MinZoom = 1
+	header.MaxZoom = 3
+	header.MinLonE7 = 1.1 * 10000000
+	header.MinLatE7 = 2.1 * 10000000
+	header.MaxLonE7 = 1.2 * 10000000
+	header.MaxLatE7 = 2.2 * 10000000
+	header.CenterZoom = 2
+	header.CenterLonE7 = 3.1 * 10000000
+	header.CenterLatE7 = 3.2 * 10000000
+	j := headerToJson(header)
+	assert.Equal(t, "br", j.TileCompression)
+	assert.Equal(t, "mvt", j.TileType)
+	assert.Equal(t, 1, j.MinZoom)
+	assert.Equal(t, 3, j.MaxZoom)
+	assert.Equal(t, 2, j.CenterZoom)
+	assert.Equal(t, 1.1, j.MinLon)
+	assert.Equal(t, 2.1, j.MinLat)
+	assert.Equal(t, 1.2, j.MaxLon)
+	assert.Equal(t, 2.2, j.MaxLat)
+	assert.Equal(t, 3.1, j.CenterLon)
+	assert.Equal(t, 3.2, j.CenterLat)
+}
+
 func TestOptimizeDirectories(t *testing.T) {
 	rand.Seed(3857)
 	entries := make([]EntryV3, 0)
@@ -171,3 +198,16 @@ func TestBuildRootsLeaves(t *testing.T) {
 	_, _, numLeaves := buildRootsLeaves(entries, 1)
 	assert.Equal(t, 1, numLeaves)
 }
+
+func TestStringifiedCompression(t *testing.T) {
+
+}
+
+func TestStringifiedExtension(t *testing.T) {
+	assert.Equal(t, "", headerExt(HeaderV3{}))
+	assert.Equal(t, ".mvt", headerExt(HeaderV3{TileType: Mvt}))
+	assert.Equal(t, ".png", headerExt(HeaderV3{TileType: Png}))
+	assert.Equal(t, ".jpg", headerExt(HeaderV3{TileType: Jpeg}))
+	assert.Equal(t, ".webp", headerExt(HeaderV3{TileType: Webp}))
+	assert.Equal(t, ".avif", headerExt(HeaderV3{TileType: Avif}))
+}
diff --git a/pmtiles/show.go b/pmtiles/show.go
index dc6e3a9..e93f583 100644
--- a/pmtiles/show.go
+++ b/pmtiles/show.go
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ import (
 )
 
 // Show prints detailed information about an archive.
-func Show(_ *log.Logger, bucketURL string, key string, showMetadataOnly bool, showTilejson bool, publicURL string, showTile bool, z int, x int, y int) error {
+func Show(_ *log.Logger, bucketURL string, key string, showHeaderJsonOnly bool, showMetadataOnly bool, showTilejson bool, publicURL string, showTile bool, z int, x int, y int) error {
 	ctx := context.Background()
 
 	bucketURL, key, err := NormalizeBucketKey(bucketURL, "", key)
@@ -90,11 +90,13 @@ func Show(_ *log.Logger, bucketURL string, key string, showMetadataOnly bool, sh
 		metadataReader.Close()
 
 		if showMetadataOnly && showTilejson {
-			return fmt.Errorf("cannot use --metadata and --tilejson together")
+			return fmt.Errorf("cannot use more than one of --header-json, --metadata, and --tilejson together")
 		}
 
-		if showMetadataOnly {
-			fmt.Print(string(metadataBytes))
+		if showHeaderJsonOnly {
+			fmt.Println(headerToStringifiedJson(header))
+		} else if showMetadataOnly {
+			fmt.Println(string(metadataBytes))
 		} else if showTilejson {
 			if publicURL == "" {
 				// Using Fprintf instead of logger here, as this message should be written to Stderr in case