diff --git a/src/spec-configuration/containerCollectionsOCIPush.ts b/src/spec-configuration/containerCollectionsOCIPush.ts
index 4175babc7..24f811663 100644
--- a/src/spec-configuration/containerCollectionsOCIPush.ts
+++ b/src/spec-configuration/containerCollectionsOCIPush.ts
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ import { requestEnsureAuthenticated } from './httpOCIRegistry';
 //     Devcontainer Spec (features) : https://containers.dev/implementors/features-distribution/#oci-registry
 //     Devcontainer Spec (templates): https://github.com/devcontainers/spec/blob/main/proposals/devcontainer-templates-distribution.md#oci-registry
 //     OCI Spec                     : https://github.com/opencontainers/distribution-spec/blob/main/spec.md#push
-export async function pushOCIFeatureOrTemplate(params: CommonParams, ociRef: OCIRef, pathToTgz: string, tags: string[], collectionType: string, featureAnnotations = {}): Promise<string | undefined> {
+export async function pushOCIFeatureOrTemplate(params: CommonParams, ociRef: OCIRef, pathToTgz: string, tags: string[], collectionType: string, annotations: { [key: string]: string } = {}): Promise<string | undefined> {
 	const { output } = params;
 
 	output.write(`-- Starting push of ${collectionType} '${ociRef.id}' to '${ociRef.resource}' with tags '${tags.join(', ')}'`);
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ export async function pushOCIFeatureOrTemplate(params: CommonParams, ociRef: OCI
 	const dataBytes = fs.readFileSync(pathToTgz);
 
 	// Generate Manifest for given feature/template artifact.
-	const manifest = await generateCompleteManifestForIndividualFeatureOrTemplate(output, dataBytes, pathToTgz, ociRef, collectionType, featureAnnotations);
+	const manifest = await generateCompleteManifestForIndividualFeatureOrTemplate(output, dataBytes, pathToTgz, ociRef, collectionType, annotations);
 	if (!manifest) {
 		output.write(`Failed to generate manifest for ${ociRef.id}`, LogLevel.Error);
 		return;
@@ -268,14 +268,13 @@ async function putBlob(params: CommonParams, blobPutLocationUriPath: string, oci
 // Generate a layer that follows the `application/vnd.devcontainers.layer.v1+tar` mediaType as defined in
 //     Devcontainer Spec (features) : https://containers.dev/implementors/features-distribution/#oci-registry
 //     Devcontainer Spec (templates): https://github.com/devcontainers/spec/blob/main/proposals/devcontainer-templates-distribution.md#oci-registry
-async function generateCompleteManifestForIndividualFeatureOrTemplate(output: Log, dataBytes: Buffer, pathToTgz: string, ociRef: OCIRef, collectionType: string, featureAnnotations = {}): Promise<ManifestContainer | undefined> {
+async function generateCompleteManifestForIndividualFeatureOrTemplate(output: Log, dataBytes: Buffer, pathToTgz: string, ociRef: OCIRef, collectionType: string, annotations: { [key: string]: string } = {}): Promise<ManifestContainer | undefined> {
 	const tgzLayer = await calculateDataLayer(output, dataBytes, path.basename(pathToTgz), DEVCONTAINER_TAR_LAYER_MEDIATYPE);
 	if (!tgzLayer) {
 		output.write(`Failed to calculate tgz layer.`, LogLevel.Error);
 		return undefined;
 	}
 
-	let annotations: { [key: string]: string } = featureAnnotations;
 	// Specific registries look for certain optional metadata 
 	// in the manifest, in this case for UI presentation.
 	if (ociRef.registry === 'ghcr.io') {
diff --git a/src/spec-node/collectionCommonUtils/publishCommandImpl.ts b/src/spec-node/collectionCommonUtils/publishCommandImpl.ts
index c7321fb93..ebdb433e8 100644
--- a/src/spec-node/collectionCommonUtils/publishCommandImpl.ts
+++ b/src/spec-node/collectionCommonUtils/publishCommandImpl.ts
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ export function getSemanticTags(version: string, tags: string[], output: Log) {
 	return semanticVersions;
 }
 
-export async function doPublishCommand(params: CommonParams, version: string, ociRef: OCIRef, outputDir: string, collectionType: string, archiveName: string, featureAnnotations = {}) {
+export async function doPublishCommand(params: CommonParams, version: string, ociRef: OCIRef, outputDir: string, collectionType: string, archiveName: string, annotations: { [key: string]: string } = {}) {
 	const { output } = params;
 
 	output.write(`Fetching published versions...`, LogLevel.Info);
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ export async function doPublishCommand(params: CommonParams, version: string, oc
 	if (!!semanticTags) {
 		output.write(`Publishing tags: ${semanticTags.toString()}...`, LogLevel.Info);
 		const pathToTgz = path.join(outputDir, archiveName);
-		const digest = await pushOCIFeatureOrTemplate(params, ociRef, pathToTgz, semanticTags, collectionType, featureAnnotations);
+		const digest = await pushOCIFeatureOrTemplate(params, ociRef, pathToTgz, semanticTags, collectionType, annotations);
 		if (!digest) {
 			output.write(`(!) ERR: Failed to publish ${collectionType}: '${ociRef.resource}'`, LogLevel.Error);
 			return;
diff --git a/src/spec-node/templatesCLI/publish.ts b/src/spec-node/templatesCLI/publish.ts
index 858eebe4b..33b4c206a 100644
--- a/src/spec-node/templatesCLI/publish.ts
+++ b/src/spec-node/templatesCLI/publish.ts
@@ -88,7 +88,14 @@ async function templatesPublish({
         }
 
         const archiveName = getArchiveName(t.id, collectionType);
-        const publishResult = await doPublishCommand(params, t.version, templateRef, outputDir, collectionType, archiveName);
+
+        // Properties here are available on the manifest without needing to download the full Template archive.
+        const templateAnnotations = {
+            'dev.containers.metadata': JSON.stringify(t),
+        };
+        output.write(`Template Annotations: ${JSON.stringify(templateAnnotations)}`, LogLevel.Debug);
+
+        const publishResult = await doPublishCommand(params, t.version, templateRef, outputDir, collectionType, archiveName, templateAnnotations);
         if (!publishResult) {
             output.write(`(!) ERR: Failed to publish '${resource}'`, LogLevel.Error);
             process.exit(1);