diff --git a/projects/packages/premium-analytics/changelog/update-pa-widget-metadata-pipeline b/projects/packages/premium-analytics/changelog/update-pa-widget-metadata-pipeline
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..6b413aa325dc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/projects/packages/premium-analytics/changelog/update-pa-widget-metadata-pipeline
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+Significance: minor
+Type: added
+
+Widget types: carry the declarative widget.json metadata (category, title, description, help, keywords) from the build manifest through the registry into the widget-modules REST record, translated and sanitized at registration.
diff --git a/projects/packages/premium-analytics/src/class-widget-type.php b/projects/packages/premium-analytics/src/class-widget-type.php
index c0ef1c5448eb..5c98791a8521 100644
--- a/projects/packages/premium-analytics/src/class-widget-type.php
+++ b/projects/packages/premium-analytics/src/class-widget-type.php
@@ -72,6 +72,57 @@ class Widget_Type {
 	 */
 	public $presentation = null;
 
+	/**
+	 * Widget types are grouped into categories to help users browse and
+	 * discover them. Static and declarative; not a user-editable attribute.
+	 *
+	 * Null when the widget did not declare the field.
+	 *
+	 * @var string|null
+	 */
+	public $category = null;
+
+	/**
+	 * Human-readable title that names the widget type. Translated
+	 * at registration time using the widget's text domain.
+	 *
+	 * Null when the widget did not declare the field.
+	 *
+	 * @var string|null
+	 */
+	public $title = null;
+
+	/**
+	 * Human-readable description of what the widget type does.
+	 * Translated at registration time using the widget's text domain.
+	 *
+	 * Null when the widget did not declare the field.
+	 *
+	 * @var string|null
+	 */
+	public $description = null;
+
+	/**
+	 * Contextual help note: `content` plus optional `links`.
+	 * Translated at registration time using the widget's text domain.
+	 *
+	 * Null when the widget did not declare the field.
+	 *
+	 * @var array|null
+	 */
+	public $help = null;
+
+	/**
+	 * Alternative terms used to match the widget type when searching,
+	 * e.g. "calendar" for an events widget. Translated at registration
+	 * time using the widget's text domain.
+	 *
+	 * Null when the widget did not declare the field.
+	 *
+	 * @var string[]|null
+	 */
+	public $keywords = null;
+
 	/**
 	 * Constructor.
 	 *
diff --git a/projects/packages/premium-analytics/src/widget-i18n.json b/projects/packages/premium-analytics/src/widget-i18n.json
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..859fa3ef5dc8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/projects/packages/premium-analytics/src/widget-i18n.json
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+{
+	"title": "widget title",
+	"description": "widget description",
+	"help": {
+		"content": "widget help content",
+		"links": [ { "label": "widget help link label" } ]
+	},
+	"keywords": [ "widget keyword" ]
+}
diff --git a/projects/packages/premium-analytics/src/widget-modules.php b/projects/packages/premium-analytics/src/widget-modules.php
index 1cb634305641..ec96a98df209 100644
--- a/projects/packages/premium-analytics/src/widget-modules.php
+++ b/projects/packages/premium-analytics/src/widget-modules.php
@@ -80,6 +80,11 @@ function get_widget_modules_response() {
 			'render_module' => $widget_type->render_module,
 			'widget_module' => $widget_type->widget_module,
 			'presentation'  => $widget_type->presentation,
+			'category'      => $widget_type->category,
+			'title'         => $widget_type->title,
+			'description'   => $widget_type->description,
+			'help'          => $widget_type->help,
+			'keywords'      => $widget_type->keywords,
 		);
 	}
 
diff --git a/projects/packages/premium-analytics/src/widget-types.php b/projects/packages/premium-analytics/src/widget-types.php
index 3acc82219790..624de7e6cd92 100644
--- a/projects/packages/premium-analytics/src/widget-types.php
+++ b/projects/packages/premium-analytics/src/widget-types.php
@@ -4,7 +4,8 @@
  *
  * Copies the wp-build manifest (`jpa_get_registered_widget_modules()`) into the
  * in-memory Widget_Type_Registry, so the plugin queries the registry instead
- * of re-parsing the manifest.
+ * of re-parsing the manifest. On the way in, user-facing metadata strings are
+ * translated (per the widget-i18n.json schema) and the `help` note sanitized.
  *
  * This is the problem-agnostic "core" layer (a PA-namespaced copy of the
  * experimental Gutenberg API): it exposes the hooks a consumer uses to scope
@@ -33,6 +34,97 @@
  */
 const WIDGET_TYPES_FILTER = 'jetpack_premium_analytics_widget_types';
 
+/**
+ * Returns the i18n schema describing which widget metadata fields are
+ * translatable and the gettext context to use for each.
+ *
+ * Read once from widget-i18n.json and memoized for the rest of the request.
+ * Decoded as objects, not associative arrays: that is how
+ * `translate_settings_using_i18n_schema()` tells keyed maps apart from lists.
+ *
+ * @return object Map of translatable field name to gettext context.
+ */
+function get_widget_metadata_i18n_schema() {
+	static $i18n_schema = null;
+
+	if ( null === $i18n_schema ) {
+		$schema      = wp_json_file_decode( __DIR__ . '/widget-i18n.json' );
+		$i18n_schema = is_object( $schema ) ? $schema : new \stdClass();
+	}
+
+	return $i18n_schema;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Translates a widget's user-facing metadata strings.
+ *
+ * Runs `title`, `description`, `help`, and `keywords` through the widget
+ * i18n schema, leaving every other key untouched. Unlike the upstream copy,
+ * a widget with no `textdomain` falls back to the package text domain
+ * instead of skipping translation: every bundled widget shares it.
+ *
+ * @param array $widget Widget data from the build manifest.
+ * @return array Widget data with its translatable strings localized.
+ */
+function translate_widget_metadata( $widget ) {
+	$textdomain  = ! empty( $widget['textdomain'] ) ? $widget['textdomain'] : 'jetpack-premium-analytics';
+	$i18n_schema = get_widget_metadata_i18n_schema();
+
+	foreach ( array( 'title', 'description', 'help', 'keywords' ) as $field ) {
+		if ( isset( $widget[ $field ] ) && isset( $i18n_schema->$field ) ) {
+			$widget[ $field ] = translate_settings_using_i18n_schema( $i18n_schema->$field, $widget[ $field ], $textdomain );
+		}
+	}
+
+	return $widget;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Constrains a widget help note to its allowed shape: `content` keeps
+ * only `em`/`strong` markup, and links are dropped unless they carry a
+ * `label` and an `href` that survives `esc_url_raw()`.
+ *
+ * @param array|null $help Help note from the build manifest.
+ * @return array|null Sanitized help note, or null when there is no content.
+ */
+function sanitize_widget_help( $help ) {
+	if ( ! is_array( $help ) || empty( $help['content'] ) || ! is_string( $help['content'] ) ) {
+		return null;
+	}
+
+	$sanitized = array(
+		'content' => wp_kses(
+			$help['content'],
+			array(
+				'em'     => array(),
+				'strong' => array(),
+			)
+		),
+	);
+
+	if ( ! empty( $help['links'] ) && is_array( $help['links'] ) ) {
+		$links = array();
+		foreach ( $help['links'] as $link ) {
+			if ( is_array( $link ) && ! empty( $link['label'] ) && ! empty( $link['href'] ) ) {
+				$href = esc_url_raw( $link['href'] );
+
+				if ( $href ) {
+					$links[] = array(
+						'label' => $link['label'],
+						'href'  => $href,
+					);
+				}
+			}
+		}
+
+		if ( $links ) {
+			$sanitized['links'] = $links;
+		}
+	}
+
+	return $sanitized;
+}
+
 /**
  * Hydrates the widget type registry from the build manifest.
  *
@@ -48,7 +140,8 @@ function register_widget_types() {
 
 	$registry = Widget_Type_Registry::get_instance();
 
-	// @phan-suppress-next-line PhanUndeclaredFunction -- Generated by wp-build into build/widgets.php, outside Phan's analysis scope. The function_exists() guard above protects the call at runtime.
+	// Generated by wp-build into build/widgets.php, outside Phan's analysis scope.
+	// The function_exists() guard above protects the call at runtime.
 	$jetpack_widget_modules = jpa_get_registered_widget_modules();
 
 	/**
@@ -68,12 +161,19 @@ function register_widget_types() {
 			continue;
 		}
 
+		$widget = translate_widget_metadata( $widget );
+
 		$registry->register(
 			$widget['name'],
 			array(
 				'render_module' => $widget['render_module'] ?? null,
 				'widget_module' => $widget['widget_module'] ?? null,
 				'presentation'  => $widget['presentation'] ?? null,
+				'category'      => $widget['category'] ?? null,
+				'title'         => $widget['title'] ?? null,
+				'description'   => $widget['description'] ?? null,
+				'help'          => sanitize_widget_help( $widget['help'] ?? null ),
+				'keywords'      => $widget['keywords'] ?? null,
 			)
 		);
 	}
diff --git a/projects/packages/premium-analytics/tests/php/Widget_Metadata_Test.php b/projects/packages/premium-analytics/tests/php/Widget_Metadata_Test.php
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..244dd25c1de9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/projects/packages/premium-analytics/tests/php/Widget_Metadata_Test.php
@@ -0,0 +1,288 @@
+<?php
+/**
+ * Tests for the widget metadata pipeline: manifest fields translated,
+ * sanitized, and exposed through the widget-modules REST record.
+ *
+ * @package automattic/jetpack-premium-analytics
+ */
+
+namespace Automattic\Jetpack\PremiumAnalytics;
+
+use PHPUnit\Framework\Attributes\CoversFunction;
+use WorDBless\BaseTestCase;
+
+require_once __DIR__ . '/../../src/widget-types.php';
+require_once __DIR__ . '/../../src/widget-modules.php';
+require_once __DIR__ . '/fixtures/widget-modules-manifest.php';
+
+/**
+ * @covers ::Automattic\Jetpack\PremiumAnalytics\register_widget_types
+ * @covers ::Automattic\Jetpack\PremiumAnalytics\translate_widget_metadata
+ * @covers ::Automattic\Jetpack\PremiumAnalytics\sanitize_widget_help
+ * @covers ::Automattic\Jetpack\PremiumAnalytics\get_widget_metadata_i18n_schema
+ * @covers ::Automattic\Jetpack\PremiumAnalytics\get_widget_modules_response
+ */
+#[CoversFunction( 'Automattic\Jetpack\PremiumAnalytics\register_widget_types' )]
+#[CoversFunction( 'Automattic\Jetpack\PremiumAnalytics\translate_widget_metadata' )]
+#[CoversFunction( 'Automattic\Jetpack\PremiumAnalytics\sanitize_widget_help' )]
+#[CoversFunction( 'Automattic\Jetpack\PremiumAnalytics\get_widget_metadata_i18n_schema' )]
+#[CoversFunction( 'Automattic\Jetpack\PremiumAnalytics\get_widget_modules_response' )]
+class Widget_Metadata_Test extends BaseTestCase {
+
+	/**
+	 * Without a declared textdomain, strings are translated under the package
+	 * text domain, using the contexts from widget-i18n.json.
+	 */
+	public function test_translate_widget_metadata_defaults_to_package_textdomain() {
+		$calls    = array();
+		$callback = static function ( $translation, $text, $context, $domain ) use ( &$calls ) {
+			$calls[] = array( $text, $context, $domain );
+			return $translation;
+		};
+		add_filter( 'gettext_with_context', $callback, 10, 4 );
+
+		$widget = translate_widget_metadata(
+			array(
+				'name'        => 'jpa/hello-world',
+				'title'       => 'Hello world',
+				'description' => 'A friendly greeting.',
+				'keywords'    => array( 'greeting' ),
+			)
+		);
+
+		remove_filter( 'gettext_with_context', $callback );
+
+		$this->assertSame( 'Hello world', $widget['title'], 'Untranslated strings pass through unchanged.' );
+		$this->assertContains( array( 'Hello world', 'widget title', 'jetpack-premium-analytics' ), $calls, 'The title is translated under the package domain.' );
+		$this->assertContains( array( 'A friendly greeting.', 'widget description', 'jetpack-premium-analytics' ), $calls, 'The description is translated under the package domain.' );
+		$this->assertContains( array( 'greeting', 'widget keyword', 'jetpack-premium-analytics' ), $calls, 'Each keyword is translated under the package domain.' );
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * A widget-declared textdomain wins over the package default.
+	 */
+	public function test_translate_widget_metadata_honors_declared_textdomain() {
+		$calls    = array();
+		$callback = static function ( $translation, $text, $context, $domain ) use ( &$calls ) {
+			$calls[] = array( $text, $context, $domain );
+			return $translation;
+		};
+		add_filter( 'gettext_with_context', $callback, 10, 4 );
+
+		translate_widget_metadata(
+			array(
+				'title'      => 'Hello world',
+				'textdomain' => 'my-widget-pack',
+			)
+		);
+
+		remove_filter( 'gettext_with_context', $callback );
+
+		$this->assertContains( array( 'Hello world', 'widget title', 'my-widget-pack' ), $calls, 'The declared textdomain is used for translation.' );
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Hydration registers manifest candidates with metadata translated,
+	 * the help note sanitized, and every field mapped onto the type.
+	 */
+	public function test_register_widget_types_hydrates_metadata_from_manifest() {
+		$GLOBALS['jpa_test_widget_manifest'] = array(
+			array(
+				'name'          => 'test/hydration-sentinel',
+				'render_module' => 'test/hydration/render',
+				'widget_module' => 'test/hydration/widget',
+				'presentation'  => 'framed',
+				'category'      => 'stats',
+				'title'         => 'Hydration sentinel',
+				'description'   => 'Carries metadata through hydration.',
+				'help'          => array(
+					'content' => 'Read <em>this</em> <script>carefully</script>.',
+					'links'   => array(
+						array(
+							'label' => 'Docs',
+							'href'  => 'https://example.com/docs',
+						),
+					),
+				),
+				'keywords'      => array( 'sentinel' ),
+			),
+		);
+
+		try {
+			register_widget_types();
+
+			$registered = get_registered_widget_types();
+			$this->assertArrayHasKey( 'test/hydration-sentinel', $registered, 'The manifest candidate is registered.' );
+
+			$widget_type = $registered['test/hydration-sentinel'];
+			$this->assertSame( 'test/hydration/render', $widget_type->render_module, 'The render module is mapped.' );
+			$this->assertSame( 'framed', $widget_type->presentation, 'The presentation is mapped.' );
+			$this->assertSame( 'stats', $widget_type->category, 'The category is mapped.' );
+			$this->assertSame( 'Hydration sentinel', $widget_type->title, 'The title is mapped.' );
+			$this->assertSame( 'Carries metadata through hydration.', $widget_type->description, 'The description is mapped.' );
+			$this->assertSame( array( 'sentinel' ), $widget_type->keywords, 'The keywords are mapped.' );
+			$this->assertSame(
+				array(
+					'content' => 'Read <em>this</em> carefully.',
+					'links'   => array(
+						array(
+							'label' => 'Docs',
+							'href'  => 'https://example.com/docs',
+						),
+					),
+				),
+				$widget_type->help,
+				'The help note is sanitized during hydration.'
+			);
+		} finally {
+			Widget_Type_Registry::get_instance()->unregister( 'test/hydration-sentinel' );
+			unset( $GLOBALS['jpa_test_widget_manifest'] );
+		}
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * A help note without usable string content sanitizes to null.
+	 */
+	public function test_sanitize_widget_help_requires_string_content() {
+		$this->assertNull( sanitize_widget_help( null ), 'Null input stays null.' );
+		$this->assertNull( sanitize_widget_help( array() ), 'A help note without content is dropped.' );
+		$this->assertNull( sanitize_widget_help( array( 'content' => '' ) ), 'Empty content is dropped.' );
+		$this->assertNull( sanitize_widget_help( array( 'content' => 42 ) ), 'Non-string content is dropped.' );
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Help content keeps only `em`/`strong` markup.
+	 */
+	public function test_sanitize_widget_help_keeps_only_emphasis_markup() {
+		$this->assertSame(
+			array( 'content' => 'Use <strong>bold</strong>, <em>emphasis</em> and nothing else.' ),
+			sanitize_widget_help(
+				array( 'content' => 'Use <strong>bold</strong>, <em>emphasis</em> and <a href="https://example.com">nothing else</a>.' )
+			),
+			'Only em/strong markup survives sanitization, and no other key rides along.'
+		);
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Links missing a label or href are dropped; surviving links are reduced
+	 * to exactly label + href.
+	 */
+	public function test_sanitize_widget_help_drops_incomplete_links() {
+		$this->assertSame(
+			array(
+				'content' => 'Read the docs.',
+				'links'   => array(
+					array(
+						'label' => 'Docs',
+						'href'  => 'https://example.com/docs',
+					),
+				),
+			),
+			sanitize_widget_help(
+				array(
+					'content' => 'Read the docs.',
+					'links'   => array(
+						array(
+							'label'  => 'Docs',
+							'href'   => 'https://example.com/docs',
+							'target' => '_blank',
+						),
+						array( 'label' => 'No href' ),
+						array( 'href' => 'https://example.com/no-label' ),
+						'not-a-link',
+					),
+				)
+			),
+			'Only complete links survive, reduced to exactly label + href.'
+		);
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Each link href goes through esc_url_raw(): a disallowed protocol drops
+	 * the whole link, and safe URLs pass through unchanged.
+	 */
+	public function test_sanitize_widget_help_rejects_unsafe_link_protocols() {
+		$this->assertSame(
+			array(
+				'content' => 'Read the docs.',
+				'links'   => array(
+					array(
+						'label' => 'Docs',
+						'href'  => 'https://example.com/docs',
+					),
+				),
+			),
+			sanitize_widget_help(
+				array(
+					'content' => 'Read the docs.',
+					'links'   => array(
+						array(
+							'label' => 'Bad',
+							'href'  => 'javascript:alert(1)',
+						),
+						array(
+							'label' => 'Docs',
+							'href'  => 'https://example.com/docs',
+						),
+					),
+				)
+			),
+			'A link whose href does not survive esc_url_raw() is dropped; safe links pass unchanged.'
+		);
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * When no link survives, the `links` key is omitted entirely.
+	 */
+	public function test_sanitize_widget_help_omits_links_when_none_survive() {
+		$this->assertSame(
+			array( 'content' => 'Plain.' ),
+			sanitize_widget_help(
+				array(
+					'content' => 'Plain.',
+					'links'   => array( array( 'label' => 'No href' ) ),
+				)
+			),
+			'The links key is omitted when no link survives.'
+		);
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * A registered widget type's metadata reaches the widget-modules REST
+	 * record intact.
+	 */
+	public function test_widget_modules_record_carries_metadata() {
+		$registry = Widget_Type_Registry::get_instance();
+		$registry->register(
+			'test/metadata-sentinel',
+			array(
+				'render_module' => 'test/render',
+				'widget_module' => 'test/widget',
+				'presentation'  => 'framed',
+				'category'      => 'stats',
+				'title'         => 'Sentinel',
+				'description'   => 'Metadata carrier.',
+				'help'          => array( 'content' => 'Helpful.' ),
+				'keywords'      => array( 'sentinel' ),
+			)
+		);
+
+		$records = get_widget_modules_response()->get_data();
+
+		$registry->unregister( 'test/metadata-sentinel' );
+
+		$record = null;
+		foreach ( $records as $candidate ) {
+			if ( 'test/metadata-sentinel' === $candidate['name'] ) {
+				$record = $candidate;
+			}
+		}
+
+		$this->assertNotNull( $record, 'The registered widget type appears in the REST record list.' );
+		$this->assertSame( 'stats', $record['category'], 'The category reaches the record.' );
+		$this->assertSame( 'Sentinel', $record['title'], 'The title reaches the record.' );
+		$this->assertSame( 'Metadata carrier.', $record['description'], 'The description reaches the record.' );
+		$this->assertSame( array( 'content' => 'Helpful.' ), $record['help'], 'The help note reaches the record.' );
+		$this->assertSame( array( 'sentinel' ), $record['keywords'], 'The keywords reach the record.' );
+	}
+}
diff --git a/projects/packages/premium-analytics/tests/php/fixtures/widget-modules-manifest.php b/projects/packages/premium-analytics/tests/php/fixtures/widget-modules-manifest.php
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..a1f8f380f468
--- /dev/null
+++ b/projects/packages/premium-analytics/tests/php/fixtures/widget-modules-manifest.php
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+<?php
+/**
+ * Test fixture: global build-manifest accessor stub.
+ *
+ * Defines the wp-build generated `jpa_get_registered_widget_modules()` in the
+ * global namespace so hydration tests can feed `register_widget_types()` a
+ * manifest. Returns the candidates staged in
+ * `$GLOBALS['jpa_test_widget_manifest']`, or an empty list when unset, so
+ * unrelated tests see a no-op manifest.
+ *
+ * @package automattic/jetpack-premium-analytics
+ */
+
+if ( ! function_exists( 'jpa_get_registered_widget_modules' ) ) {
+	/**
+	 * Returns the staged test manifest.
+	 *
+	 * @return array List of widget manifest candidates.
+	 */
+	function jpa_get_registered_widget_modules() {
+		return $GLOBALS['jpa_test_widget_manifest'] ?? array();
+	}
+}