diff --git a/packages/console-extension/src/index.ts b/packages/console-extension/src/index.ts
index a16342b54e9d..557abee44468 100644
--- a/packages/console-extension/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/console-extension/src/index.ts
@@ -40,7 +40,13 @@ import { IRenderMimeRegistry } from '@jupyterlab/rendermime';
 
 import { find } from '@lumino/algorithm';
 
-import { JSONObject, ReadonlyPartialJSONObject, UUID } from '@lumino/coreutils';
+import {
+  JSONExt,
+  JSONObject,
+  ReadonlyPartialJSONObject,
+  UUID,
+  ReadonlyJSONValue
+} from '@lumino/coreutils';
 
 import { DisposableSet } from '@lumino/disposable';
 
@@ -181,7 +187,8 @@ async function activateConsole(
         let baseUrl = PageConfig.getBaseUrl();
         for (let name in specs.kernelspecs) {
           let rank = name === specs.default ? 0 : Infinity;
-          let kernelIconUrl = specs.kernelspecs[name]?.resources['logo-64x64'];
+          const spec = specs.kernelspecs[name]!;
+          let kernelIconUrl = spec.resources['logo-64x64'];
           if (kernelIconUrl) {
             let index = kernelIconUrl.indexOf('kernelspecs');
             kernelIconUrl = URLExt.join(baseUrl, kernelIconUrl.slice(index));
@@ -192,7 +199,12 @@ async function activateConsole(
               args: { isLauncher: true, kernelPreference: { name } },
               category: 'Console',
               rank,
-              kernelIconUrl
+              kernelIconUrl,
+              metadata: {
+                kernel: JSONExt.deepCopy(
+                  spec.metadata || {}
+                ) as ReadonlyJSONValue
+              }
             })
           );
         }
diff --git a/packages/launcher/src/index.tsx b/packages/launcher/src/index.tsx
index 4015ab101c5d..db7709070557 100644
--- a/packages/launcher/src/index.tsx
+++ b/packages/launcher/src/index.tsx
@@ -344,6 +344,12 @@ export namespace ILauncher {
      * spec.
      */
     kernelIconUrl?: string;
+
+    /**
+     * Metadata about the item.  This can be used by the launcher to
+     * affect how the item is displayed.
+     */
+    metadata?: ReadonlyJSONObject;
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/packages/notebook-extension/src/index.ts b/packages/notebook-extension/src/index.ts
index c273c2e05c29..29db3c920a0c 100644
--- a/packages/notebook-extension/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/notebook-extension/src/index.ts
@@ -32,7 +32,13 @@ import { IDocumentManager } from '@jupyterlab/docmanager';
 
 import { ArrayExt } from '@lumino/algorithm';
 
-import { UUID, JSONObject, ReadonlyPartialJSONObject } from '@lumino/coreutils';
+import {
+  UUID,
+  JSONExt,
+  JSONObject,
+  ReadonlyPartialJSONObject,
+  ReadonlyJSONValue
+} from '@lumino/coreutils';
 
 import { DisposableSet } from '@lumino/disposable';
 
@@ -725,7 +731,8 @@ function activateNotebookHandler(
 
         for (let name in specs.kernelspecs) {
           let rank = name === specs.default ? 0 : Infinity;
-          let kernelIconUrl = specs.kernelspecs[name]?.resources['logo-64x64'];
+          const spec = specs.kernelspecs[name]!;
+          let kernelIconUrl = spec.resources['logo-64x64'];
           if (kernelIconUrl) {
             let index = kernelIconUrl.indexOf('kernelspecs');
             kernelIconUrl = URLExt.join(baseUrl, kernelIconUrl.slice(index));
@@ -736,7 +743,12 @@ function activateNotebookHandler(
               args: { isLauncher: true, kernelName: name },
               category: 'Notebook',
               rank,
-              kernelIconUrl
+              kernelIconUrl,
+              metadata: {
+                kernel: JSONExt.deepCopy(
+                  spec.metadata || {}
+                ) as ReadonlyJSONValue
+              }
             })
           );
         }