Excellent question. You’re asking whether **Maitreya (Pali: *Metteyya*)**, the future Buddha, appears in the **Nikāyas** (the earliest Buddhist discourses preserved in the Pāli Canon).

The short answer is: **Yes — but only very briefly.**

---

## 📜 **Where Metteyya (Maitreya) Appears**

The main reference is in the **Cakkavatti-Sīhanāda Sutta** (*Dīgha Nikāya 26*):

* The Buddha predicts that in the distant future, after the current Dharma has disappeared and the human lifespan has greatly increased again, another fully enlightened Buddha will arise.

* He names this future Buddha **Metteyya** (Skt. Maitreya).

* Metteyya will rediscover the Dharma and teach it anew, just as Śākyamuni did.

Here’s a key excerpt (paraphrased):

> *“At that time, there will arise in the world a Blessed Lord, named Metteyya, an Arahant, fully awakened, endowed with wisdom and conduct, well-farer, knower of the worlds, incomparable trainer of men, teacher of devas and humans, a Buddha, blessed lord, just as I am now.”* (DN 26)

---

## 🧘 **Context**

* This is the **earliest canonical mention of Maitreya**.

* Unlike later Mahāyāna sutras, the Pāli Canon does not dwell on him. There’s no detailed mythology about Metteyya’s Pure Land, waiting in Tusita heaven, etc.

* The emphasis in the Nikāyas remains on **the present practice** rather than waiting for a future Buddha.

---

## 📚 **Later Developments**

* **Commentarial literature** (like the *Anāgatavaṃsa*, “Chronicle of the Future”) expands heavily on Metteyya.

* In **Mahāyāna Buddhism**, Maitreya becomes a major bodhisattva figure, residing in Tusita heaven, awaited by devotees.

---

✅ **So:**

Yes, Maitreya (*Metteyya*) is in the **Nikāyas**, but only briefly in **DN 26** and a couple of parallel traditions. The elaborate devotion to him comes later in Buddhist history.

---

Would you like me to give you the **exact Pali passage** from DN 26 where Metteyya is mentioned, with translation, so you can see the wording?