eoa-label-taxonomy

EOA Label Taxonomy

Overview

This skill defines the complete label taxonomy for the emasoft multi-agent orchestration system. Labels serve two purposes: issue classification (type, priority, component) and agent coordination (assignment, status tracking). All labels follow the <category>:<value> format with strict cardinality rules to prevent conflicts and enable precise filtering.

Prerequisites

1. Read AGENT_OPERATIONS.md for orchestrator workflow context
2. Access to GitHub CLI (gh) configured for the repository
3. Understanding of the emasoft agent roles (EOA, ECOS, EIA, EAMA)
4. Read eoa-messaging-templates for message formats using labels
5. Read eoa-task-distribution for assignment workflow

Instructions

1. Determine the operation type (create, query, update)
2. Identify the label category (assign:*, status:*, priority:*, etc.)
3. Check cardinality rules for the category (section 3.1)
4. If updating, remove conflicting labels first (especially assign:* and status:*)
5. Apply the new label using gh CLI
6. Verify the label was applied correctly
7. Log the label change if tracking is required

See sections below for detailed category definitions and CLI commands.

Checklist

Copy this checklist and track your progress:

Label Operation Workflow:

• Determine operation type (create, query, update)
• Identify the label category (assign:*, status:*, priority:*, etc.)
• Check cardinality rules for the category (section 3.1)
• If updating, remove conflicting labels first (especially assign:* and status:*)
• Apply the new label using gh CLI
• Verify the label was applied correctly
• Log the label change if tracking is required

Label Lifecycle Checks:

• Issue created: Set type:*, status:backlog, optional component:*
• Issue triaged: Set priority:*, effort:*, platform:*/toolchain:* if relevant
• Issue assigned: Add assign:<agent>, change status:todo → status:in-progress
• Issue in AI review: Change status:in-progress → status:ai-review
• Issue in human review: Change status:ai-review → status:human-review (BIG tasks only)
• Issue ready to merge: Change review status → status:merge-release
• Issue completed: Remove assign:*, change status:merge-release → status:done

---

1. Label System Overview

What Labels Are For

Labels in the emasoft multi-agent system serve TWO purposes:

1. Issue Classification - Categorize what the issue IS (type, priority, component)
2. Agent Coordination - Track who is WORKING on the issue (assignment, status)

Label Anatomy

All labels follow this format:

<category>:<value>

Examples:

• status:in-progress - Category is status, value is in-progress
• assign:implementer-1 - Category is assign, value is implementer-1

Why Prefixes Matter

Prefixes enable:

• Filtering: gh issue list --label "assign:implementer-1"
• Grouping: All status:* labels show workflow state
• Clarity: Instantly know what a label represents

---

2. Label Categories Summary

Full category details: label-categories-detailed.md

• Assignment labels (assign:*) - Agent assignment tracking
• Status labels (status:*) - Workflow state
• Priority labels (priority:*) - Urgency level
• Type labels (type:*) - Kind of work
• Component labels (component:*) - Affected code areas
• Effort labels (effort:*) - Size estimate
• Platform labels (platform:*) - Target platforms
• Toolchain labels (toolchain:*) - Required tools
• Review labels (review:*) - PR review status

Key Categories Quick Reference

Prefix	Purpose	Cardinality	Example
assign:	Who is working on it	0-1	assign:implementer-1
status:	Current workflow state	1	status:in-progress
priority:	Urgency level	1	priority:high
type:	Kind of work	1	type:bug
component:	Affected code areas	1+	component:api
effort:	Size estimate	1	effort:m
platform:	Target platforms	0+	platform:linux
toolchain:	Required tools	0+	toolchain:python
review:	PR review status	0-1	review:approved

Kanban Columns (Canonical 8-Column System)

The full workflow uses these 8 status columns:

#	Column Code	Display Name	Label	Description
1	backlog	Backlog	status:backlog	Entry point for new tasks
2	todo	Todo	status:todo	Ready to start
3	in-progress	In Progress	status:in-progress	Active work
4	ai-review	AI Review	status:ai-review	Integrator agent reviews ALL tasks
5	human-review	Human Review	status:human-review	User reviews BIG tasks only (via EAMA)
6	merge-release	Merge/Release	status:merge-release	Ready to merge
7	done	Done	status:done	Completed
8	blocked	Blocked	status:blocked	Blocked at any stage

Task Routing Rules:

• Small tasks: In Progress -> AI Review -> Merge/Release -> Done
• Big tasks: In Progress -> AI Review -> Human Review -> Merge/Release -> Done
• Human Review is requested via EAMA (Assistant Manager asks user to test/review)
• Not all tasks go through Human Review -- only significant changes requiring human judgment

---

3. Usage Rules

3.1 Label Cardinality

Category	Cardinality	Meaning
assign:*	0 or 1	At most one assignment
status:*	1	Exactly one status
priority:*	1	Exactly one priority
type:*	1	Exactly one type
component:*	1+	One or more components
effort:*	1	Exactly one effort
platform:*	0+	Zero or more platforms
toolchain:*	0+	Zero or more toolchains
review:*	0 or 1	At most one review status

3.2 Label Lifecycle

When Issue Created:

1. Set type:* based on issue content
2. Set status:backlog
3. Optionally set component:* if known

When Issue Triaged:

1. Set priority:*
2. Set effort:*
3. Set platform:* and toolchain:* if relevant
4. Change status:backlog → status:todo (or keep in backlog)

When Issue Assigned:

1. Add assign:<agent-name>
2. Change status:todo → status:in-progress

When Work Done, AI Reviews:

1. Change status:in-progress → status:ai-review
2. Integrator (EIA) reviews ALL tasks

When Human Review Needed (BIG tasks only):

1. Change status:ai-review → status:human-review
2. User reviews the task

When Ready to Merge:

1. Change review status → status:merge-release
2. Ready to merge and release

When Issue Completed:

1. Remove assign:* label
2. Change status:merge-release → status:done

3.3 Common Mistakes to Avoid

Mistake	Correct Approach
Multiple assign:* labels	Remove old before adding new
Missing status:* label	Every issue needs exactly one
Changing type:* mid-work	Create new issue instead
Using agent:* prefix	Use assign:* for assignments
Forgetting to update status	Update status at each workflow transition

---

4. Quick Reference

Minimum Required Labels

Every issue MUST have:

1. status:* - One status label
2. priority:* - One priority label
3. type:* - One type label

Colors Reference

Category	Suggested Color
assign:	Various blues/purples
status:	Workflow colors (green=ready, yellow=progress, red=blocked)
priority:	Urgency colors (red=critical, orange=high, yellow=normal, green=low)
type:	Category colors
component:	Light pastels
effort:	Size-based (green=small, red=large)
platform:	Neutral grays
toolchain:	Language brand colors
review:	Review state colors

---

5. CLI Commands

Full command reference: cli-commands.md

• Create labels for all categories
• Query labels (list issues by label)
• Update labels (reassign, change status)
• Validate label cardinality

Quick commands:

# Assign task to agent
gh issue edit 42 --add-label "assign:implementer-1"

# Update status
gh issue edit 42 --remove-label "status:todo" --add-label "status:in-progress"

# Query assigned issues
gh issue list --label "assign:implementer-1"

---

Output

Output Type	Format	Example
Label list	JSON from gh issue view	{"labels": [{"name": "assign:implementer-1"}]}
Label query results	Table/list from gh issue list	Issues matching filter criteria
Label creation	CLI confirmation	✓ Label "assign:implementer-1" created
Label update	CLI confirmation	✓ Updated labels for #42
Validation result	Boolean/message	"Valid: issue has exactly 1 status label"

---

Error Handling

Error	Cause	Solution
Multiple assign:* labels on one issue	Concurrent updates or incorrect removal	Remove all assign:* labels, then add the correct one
Missing status:* label	Label removed accidentally or never set	Set the appropriate status label based on current workflow state
Multiple status:* labels	Concurrent updates	Remove all status:* labels, then add the correct one
gh command fails	No auth or repo not found	Run gh auth login and verify repo access
Label conflict during reassignment	Old label not removed first	Use gh issue edit --remove-label "old" --add-label "new" in single command
Invalid label name	Typo or wrong format	Check label format: <category>:<value> (no spaces)

---

Examples

Full examples: examples.md

• Example 1: Assign task to agent
• Example 2: Update status during workflow
• Example 3: Query issues by multiple labels
• Example 4: Validate label cardinality

Quick example - Reassign task:

# Remove old assignment and add new in single command
gh issue edit 42 --remove-label "assign:implementer-1" --add-label "assign:implementer-2"

---

Resources

• label-categories-detailed.md - Full category definitions
• cli-commands.md - Complete CLI reference
• examples.md - Usage examples
• AGENT_OPERATIONS.md - Core orchestrator workflow context
• eoa-messaging-templates - Message templates using labels
• eoa-task-distribution - Assignment workflow
• eoa-progress-monitoring - Status tracking