GitHub Label Management Skill

This skill provides operations for managing repository labels, including creating, editing, deleting labels, and applying them to issues and pull requests for better organization and triage.

Available Operations

1. Create Label

Create new labels with custom names, descriptions, and colors.

2. List Labels

View all labels in a repository.

3. Edit Label

Update label properties (name, color, description).

4. Delete Label

Remove labels from a repository.

5. Clone Labels

Copy labels from one repository to another.

6. Apply Labels to Issues/PRs

Add labels to issues and pull requests.

7. Remove Labels

Remove labels from issues and pull requests.

Usage Examples

Create Label

Create basic label:

gh label create bug --repo owner/repo-name \
  --description "Something isn't working" \
  --color d73a4a

Create multiple labels:

gh label create enhancement --repo owner/repo-name --description "New feature or request" --color a2eeef
gh label create documentation --repo owner/repo-name --description "Improvements or additions to documentation" --color 0075ca
gh label create "good first issue" --repo owner/repo-name --description "Good for newcomers" --color 7057ff

Create with default color:

gh label create "needs triage" --repo owner/repo-name --description "Needs initial review"

Using API:

gh api repos/owner/repo-name/labels \
  -f name="security" \
  -f description="Security related issues" \
  -f color="d93f0b"

List Labels

List all labels:

gh label list --repo owner/repo-name

Limit results:

gh label list --repo owner/repo-name --limit 100

Search labels:

gh label list --repo owner/repo-name --search "bug"

Order by name:

gh label list --repo owner/repo-name --order asc

JSON output:

gh label list --repo owner/repo-name --json name,description,color

Using API:

gh api repos/owner/repo-name/labels --jq '.[] | {name, description, color}'

Edit Label

Update label name:

gh label edit bug --repo owner/repo-name --name "bug-report"

Update color:

gh label edit bug --repo owner/repo-name --color ff0000

Update description:

gh label edit bug --repo owner/repo-name --description "Critical bug requiring immediate attention"

Update multiple properties:

gh label edit enhancement --repo owner/repo-name \
  --name feature \
  --description "New feature request" \
  --color 00ff00

Using API:

gh api repos/owner/repo-name/labels/bug \
  -X PATCH \
  -f new_name="critical-bug" \
  -f color="ff0000" \
  -f description="Critical issues"

Delete Label

Delete single label:

gh label delete bug --repo owner/repo-name

Delete with confirmation:

gh label delete bug --repo owner/repo-name --yes

Delete multiple labels:

for label in "wontfix" "duplicate" "invalid"; do
  gh label delete "$label" --repo owner/repo-name --yes
done

Using API:

gh api repos/owner/repo-name/labels/wontfix -X DELETE

Clone Labels

Copy labels from another repository:

# Get labels from source repo
gh label list --repo source-owner/source-repo --json name,description,color > labels.json

# Create labels in target repo
cat labels.json | jq -r '.[] | "\(.name)|\(.description)|\(.color)"' | \
  while IFS='|' read name desc color; do
    gh label create "$name" --repo owner/repo-name --description "$desc" --color "$color" 2>/dev/null || true
  done

Clone from template repository:

# Script to clone labels
SOURCE_REPO="template-owner/template-repo"
TARGET_REPO="owner/new-repo"

gh api repos/$SOURCE_REPO/labels --jq '.[]' | \
  jq -c '{name, description, color}' | \
  while read label; do
    gh api repos/$TARGET_REPO/labels \
      -f name="$(echo $label | jq -r '.name')" \
      -f description="$(echo $label | jq -r '.description')" \
      -f color="$(echo $label | jq -r '.color')"
  done

Apply Labels to Issues/PRs

Add label to issue:

gh issue edit 123 --repo owner/repo-name --add-label "bug"

Add multiple labels:

gh issue edit 123 --repo owner/repo-name --add-label "bug,critical,needs-review"

Add label to PR:

gh pr edit 456 --repo owner/repo-name --add-label "enhancement"

Using API:

gh api repos/owner/repo-name/issues/123/labels \
  -f 'labels[]=bug' \
  -f 'labels[]=critical'

Remove Labels

Remove label from issue:

gh issue edit 123 --repo owner/repo-name --remove-label "bug"

Remove multiple labels:

gh issue edit 123 --repo owner/repo-name --remove-label "bug,wontfix"

Remove all labels:

# Get all labels on issue
LABELS=$(gh issue view 123 --repo owner/repo-name --json labels --jq '.labels[].name' | tr '\n' ',')
gh issue edit 123 --repo owner/repo-name --remove-label "$LABELS"

Using API:

# Remove specific label
gh api repos/owner/repo-name/issues/123/labels/bug -X DELETE

# Remove all labels
gh api repos/owner/repo-name/issues/123/labels -X DELETE

Common Patterns

Standard Label Set

REPO="owner/repo-name"

# Issue Types
gh label create "bug" --repo $REPO --description "Something isn't working" --color "d73a4a"
gh label create "enhancement" --repo $REPO --description "New feature or request" --color "a2eeef"
gh label create "documentation" --repo $REPO --description "Improvements or additions to documentation" --color "0075ca"
gh label create "question" --repo $REPO --description "Further information is requested" --color "d876e3"

# Priority
gh label create "priority: high" --repo $REPO --description "High priority" --color "ff0000"
gh label create "priority: medium" --repo $REPO --description "Medium priority" --color "ffaa00"
gh label create "priority: low" --repo $REPO --description "Low priority" --color "00ff00"

# Status
gh label create "status: in progress" --repo $REPO --description "Work in progress" --color "fbca04"
gh label create "status: blocked" --repo $REPO --description "Blocked by dependencies" --color "b60205"
gh label create "status: needs review" --repo $REPO --description "Needs code review" --color "0e8a16"

# Community
gh label create "good first issue" --repo $REPO --description "Good for newcomers" --color "7057ff"
gh label create "help wanted" --repo $REPO --description "Extra attention is needed" --color "008672"

Issue Triage Workflow

REPO="owner/repo-name"

# 1. List untriaged issues
gh issue list --repo $REPO --label "needs-triage" --state open

# 2. Review issue
gh issue view 123 --repo $REPO

# 3. Apply appropriate labels
gh issue edit 123 --repo $REPO \
  --add-label "bug,priority: high" \
  --remove-label "needs-triage"

# 4. Assign to team member
gh issue edit 123 --repo $REPO --add-assignee developer1

Bulk Label Operations

REPO="owner/repo-name"

# Add label to multiple issues
for issue in 101 102 103 104 105; do
  gh issue edit $issue --repo $REPO --add-label "sprint-3"
done

# Remove stale label from closed issues
gh issue list --repo $REPO --state closed --label "stale" --json number --jq '.[].number' | \
  while read issue; do
    gh issue edit $issue --repo $REPO --remove-label "stale"
  done

Label Cleanup

REPO="owner/repo-name"

# Find unused labels
ALL_LABELS=$(gh label list --repo $REPO --json name --jq '.[].name')

for label in $ALL_LABELS; do
  # Count issues with label
  COUNT=$(gh issue list --repo $REPO --label "$label" --state all --limit 1000 --json number --jq '. | length')

  if [ "$COUNT" -eq 0 ]; then
    echo "Unused label: $label"
    # Optionally delete
    # gh label delete "$label" --repo $REPO --yes
  fi
done

Rename Label Across Issues

REPO="owner/repo-name"
OLD_LABEL="bug"
NEW_LABEL="defect"

# 1. Create new label
gh label create "$NEW_LABEL" --repo $REPO --description "Software defect" --color "d73a4a"

# 2. Find all issues with old label
gh issue list --repo $REPO --label "$OLD_LABEL" --state all --limit 1000 --json number --jq '.[].number' | \
  while read issue; do
    # Add new label
    gh issue edit $issue --repo $REPO --add-label "$NEW_LABEL"
    # Remove old label
    gh issue edit $issue --repo $REPO --remove-label "$OLD_LABEL"
  done

# 3. Delete old label
gh label delete "$OLD_LABEL" --repo $REPO --yes

Color-Coded Categories

REPO="owner/repo-name"

# Type labels (Red shades)
gh label create "type: bug" --repo $REPO --color "d73a4a"
gh label create "type: feature" --repo $REPO --color "ff6b6b"
gh label create "type: refactor" --repo $REPO --color "ee5a6f"

# Area labels (Blue shades)
gh label create "area: frontend" --repo $REPO --color "0052cc"
gh label create "area: backend" --repo $REPO --color "0e8a16"
gh label create "area: database" --repo $REPO --color "1d76db"

# Effort labels (Green shades)
gh label create "effort: small" --repo $REPO --color "c2e0c6"
gh label create "effort: medium" --repo $REPO --color "7bcf8e"
gh label create "effort: large" --repo $REPO --color "0e8a16"

Advanced Usage

Label Analytics

Count issues by label:

gh label list --repo owner/repo-name --json name --jq '.[].name' | \
  while read label; do
    count=$(gh issue list --repo owner/repo-name --label "$label" --state all --json number --jq '. | length')
    echo "$label: $count"
  done | sort -t: -k2 -nr

Most used labels:

gh api repos/owner/repo-name/labels --jq '.[] | "\(.name)|\(.color)"' | \
  while IFS='|' read name color; do
    count=$(gh issue list --repo owner/repo-name --label "$name" --state all --limit 1000 --json number --jq '. | length')
    echo "$count|$name|$color"
  done | sort -t'|' -k1 -nr | head -10

Label Templates

Bug report labels:

#!/bin/bash
REPO=$1

gh label create "severity: critical" --repo $REPO --color "b60205"
gh label create "severity: high" --repo $REPO --color "d93f0b"
gh label create "severity: medium" --repo $REPO --color "ff9800"
gh label create "severity: low" --repo $REPO --color "ffeb3b"

gh label create "status: confirmed" --repo $REPO --color "0e8a16"
gh label create "status: in progress" --repo $REPO --color "fbca04"
gh label create "status: fixed" --repo $REPO --color "00ff00"

Project management labels:

#!/bin/bash
REPO=$1

# Sprints
gh label create "sprint-1" --repo $REPO --color "bfd4f2"
gh label create "sprint-2" --repo $REPO --color "c5def5"
gh label create "sprint-3" --repo $REPO --color "d4e6f1"

# Milestones
gh label create "milestone: v1.0" --repo $REPO --color "0052cc"
gh label create "milestone: v2.0" --repo $REPO --color "1d76db"

# Dependencies
gh label create "dependencies" --repo $REPO --color "0366d6"
gh label create "blocked" --repo $REPO --color "b60205"

Sync Labels Across Organization

#!/bin/bash
ORG="my-org"
TEMPLATE_REPO="my-org/template"

# Get all repos in org
gh api orgs/$ORG/repos --paginate --jq '.[].name' | \
  while read repo; do
    echo "Syncing labels for $ORG/$repo"

    # Get template labels
    gh api repos/$TEMPLATE_REPO/labels --jq '.[]' | \
      jq -c '{name, description, color}' | \
      while read label; do
        NAME=$(echo $label | jq -r '.name')
        DESC=$(echo $label | jq -r '.description')
        COLOR=$(echo $label | jq -r '.color')

        # Create or update label
        gh api repos/$ORG/$repo/labels \
          -f name="$NAME" \
          -f description="$DESC" \
          -f color="$COLOR" 2>/dev/null || \
        gh api repos/$ORG/$repo/labels/"$NAME" \
          -X PATCH \
          -f description="$DESC" \
          -f color="$COLOR"
      done
  done

Auto-Label Based on File Changes

# In a PR workflow
REPO="owner/repo-name"
PR_NUMBER=123

# Get changed files
FILES=$(gh pr view $PR_NUMBER --repo $REPO --json files --jq '.files[].path')

# Auto-apply labels based on paths
if echo "$FILES" | grep -q "^frontend/"; then
  gh pr edit $PR_NUMBER --repo $REPO --add-label "area: frontend"
fi

if echo "$FILES" | grep -q "^backend/"; then
  gh pr edit $PR_NUMBER --repo $REPO --add-label "area: backend"
fi

if echo "$FILES" | grep -q "\.test\."; then
  gh pr edit $PR_NUMBER --repo $REPO --add-label "tests"
fi

if echo "$FILES" | grep -q "\.md$"; then
  gh pr edit $PR_NUMBER --repo $REPO --add-label "documentation"
fi

Error Handling

Label Already Exists

# Check if label exists
gh label list --repo owner/repo-name --search "bug" --json name --jq '.[].name' | grep -q "^bug$" && echo "Exists" || echo "Does not exist"

# Create or update
gh label create "bug" --repo owner/repo-name --color "d73a4a" 2>&1 | grep -q "already exists" && \
  gh label edit "bug" --repo owner/repo-name --color "d73a4a"

Label Not Found

# Verify label exists before editing
if gh label list --repo owner/repo-name --search "bug" --json name --jq '.[].name' | grep -q "^bug$"; then
  gh label edit "bug" --repo owner/repo-name --color "ff0000"
else
  echo "Label 'bug' not found"
fi

Invalid Color Code

# Validate hex color (6 characters, no #)
COLOR="d73a4a"
if [[ $COLOR =~ ^[0-9a-fA-F]{6}$ ]]; then
  gh label create "bug" --repo owner/repo-name --color "$COLOR"
else
  echo "Invalid color code: $COLOR"
fi

Best Practices

1. Use consistent naming: Adopt a naming convention (e.g., "type: bug", "priority: high")
2. Limit label count: Too many labels reduce effectiveness (aim for 15-30)
3. Use color coding: Group related labels with similar colors
4. Document labels: Use descriptions to explain when to use each label
5. Regular cleanup: Remove unused labels periodically
6. Template across repos: Use consistent labels across organization
7. Combine labels: Use multiple labels for detailed categorization
8. Avoid redundancy: Don't create overlapping labels
9. Make discoverable: Use clear, searchable names
10. Review usage: Analyze which labels are actually being used

Common Label Categories

Issue Types

• bug, enhancement, documentation, question, feature

Priority

• priority: critical, priority: high, priority: medium, priority: low

Status

• status: in progress, status: blocked, status: needs review, status: ready

Area/Component

• area: frontend, area: backend, area: api, area: database, area: ui

Effort/Size

• size: xs, size: s, size: m, size: l, size: xl

Community

• good first issue, help wanted, hacktoberfest, beginner-friendly

Integration with Other Skills

• Use issue-management to apply labels during issue creation
• Use pull-request-management to label PRs automatically
• Use workflow-management to auto-label based on CI/CD results
• Use project-management to organize by labels in project boards

References

• GitHub CLI Label Documentation
• GitHub Labels Guide
• Label Best Practices
• GitHub Labels API