github-labels

created	"2025-12-16T00:00:00.000Z"
modified	"2026-05-09T00:00:00.000Z"
reviewed	"2026-04-01T00:00:00.000Z"
name	github-labels
description	Discover and apply GitHub labels via gh CLI. Use when asked to label a PR/issue, list available labels, or create new labels for a repository.
user-invocable	false
allowed-tools	Bash, Read, Grep, Glob

GitHub Labels

Reference for discovering and applying labels to GitHub PRs and issues.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when...	Use something else when...
Listing available labels in a repo	Creating or managing milestones
Adding or removing labels on PRs/issues	Managing GitHub Projects boards
Creating new labels with colors	Bulk-editing many issues at once
Inheriting labels from issue to PR	Setting PR reviewers or assignees

Discovering Available Labels

# List all labels with details
gh label list --json name,description,color --limit 50

# Search for specific labels
gh label list --search "bug"

# Output as simple list
gh label list --json name -q '.[].name'

Adding Labels to PRs

# Single label
gh pr create --label "bug"

# Multiple labels (repeat flag)
gh pr create --label "bug" --label "priority:high"

# Comma-separated
gh pr create --label "bug,priority:high"

# Add to existing PR
gh pr edit 123 --add-label "ready-for-review"

Adding Labels to Issues

# Create with labels
gh issue create --label "bug,needs-triage"

# Add to existing issue
gh issue edit 123 --add-label "in-progress"

# Remove label
gh issue edit 123 --remove-label "needs-triage"

Common Label Categories

Category	Examples
Type	bug, feature, enhancement, documentation, chore
Priority	priority:critical, priority:high, priority:medium, priority:low
Status	needs-triage, in-progress, blocked, ready-for-review
Area	frontend, backend, infrastructure, testing, ci-cd

Label Inheritance Pattern

When creating a PR from an issue:

1. Read issue labels via gh issue view N --json labels
2. Apply same labels to PR: gh pr create --label "label1,label2"

This maintains traceability and consistent categorization.

Agentic Optimizations

Context	Command
List all labels (machine-readable)	gh label list --json name,description,color --limit 50
Get label names only	gh label list --json name -q '.[].name'
Add label to PR silently	gh pr edit $PR --add-label "label"
Check current issue labels	gh issue view $ISSUE --json labels -q '.labels[].name'
Inherit labels from issue to PR	`gh issue view $ISSUE --json labels -q '[.labels[].name]