Hey, so I had a question about the feat prerequisite, "Spellcasting or Pact Magic feature", for feats such as Metamagic Adept. Does a character meet the prerequisite only if they are a member of a class with the ability to cast spells, or can they still apply if they have the ability to cast spells because their race (such as a high elf) or another feat (such as Magic Initiate)?

The must be able to cast spells via class features to take eldritch adept or metamagic adept (or any other feat with the same prerequisite).

For comparison, the war caster feat only requires the ability to cast spells without caring about class features.

The requirement doesn't explicitly say it must come from a class, it could, in theory, come from a racial feature. However, as far as I'm aware, there are no races that have a "Spellcasting" or "Pact Magic" feature. While there are races that are able to cast spells, those features are called something else, like Infernal Legacy or etc. So, in practice, you'll need to have the feature from one of the classes that has it.

Ok, thanks