code: protected List<ColumnDef> getColumnMetadata(Cassandra.Client client)
              throws InvalidRequestException,
              UnavailableException,
              TimedOutException,
              SchemaDisagreementException,
              TException,
              CharacterCodingException,
              org.apache.cassandra.exceptions.InvalidRequestException,
              ConfigurationException,
              NotFoundException
      {
          List<ColumnDef> keyColumns = null;
          // get key columns
          try
          {
              keyColumns = getKeysMeta(client);
          }
          catch(Exception e)
          {
              logger.error("Error in retrieving key columns" , e);
          }
  
          // get other columns
          List<ColumnDef> columns = getColumnMeta(client, false, !hasCompactValueAlias);
  
          // combine all columns in a list
          if (keyColumns != null && columns != null)
              keyColumns.addAll(columns);
  
          return keyColumns;
      }
docs: include key columns