Asset Bank allows for the creation of empty assets which do not have a file associated with them. There are many possible use cases for this which includes (but is not limited to):

• Creating an empty parent asset which imparts metadata to child assets later.
• Creating an indexable, searchable reference to an archived asset.
• Creating and attributing metadata to an asset before the file is uploaded.

If you are using Asset Types then creating a new Asset Type with no allowable media types (as in the screenshot below) will allow you to create assets without uploading a file. This is a common use case when creating empty parent assets.

If you do not use Asset Types or have no need for a dedicated Asset Type then you can update the following ApplicationSettings.properties setting:

allow-empty-assets=true

This will add an 'Add file later' checkbox on the standard upload page, allowing you to bypass uploading a file and go directly to the add metadata page.