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:
- Read issue labels via
gh issue view N --json labels
- 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] |
Converted and distributed by TomeVault — claim your Tome and manage your conversions.
1---2name: laurigates-claude-plugins-github-labels3description: GitHub Labels4---56# GitHub Labels78Reference for discovering and applying labels to GitHub PRs and issues.910## When to Use This Skill1112| Use this skill when... | Use something else when... |13|------------------------|---------------------------|14| Listing available labels in a repo | Creating or managing milestones |15| Adding or removing labels on PRs/issues | Managing GitHub Projects boards |16| Creating new labels with colors | Bulk-editing many issues at once |17| Inheriting labels from issue to PR | Setting PR reviewers or assignees |1819## Discovering Available Labels2021```bash22# List all labels with details23gh label list --json name,description,color --limit 502425# Search for specific labels26gh label list --search "bug"2728# Output as simple list29gh label list --json name -q '.[].name'30```3132## Adding Labels to PRs3334```bash35# Single label36gh pr create --label "bug"3738# Multiple labels (repeat flag)39gh pr create --label "bug" --label "priority:high"4041# Comma-separated42gh pr create --label "bug,priority:high"4344# Add to existing PR45gh pr edit 123 --add-label "ready-for-review"46```4748## Adding Labels to Issues4950```bash51# Create with labels52gh issue create --label "bug,needs-triage"5354# Add to existing issue55gh issue edit 123 --add-label "in-progress"5657# Remove label58gh issue edit 123 --remove-label "needs-triage"59```6061## Common Label Categories6263| Category | Examples |64|----------|----------|65| Type | `bug`, `feature`, `enhancement`, `documentation`, `chore` |66| Priority | `priority:critical`, `priority:high`, `priority:medium`, `priority:low` |67| Status | `needs-triage`, `in-progress`, `blocked`, `ready-for-review` |68| Area | `frontend`, `backend`, `infrastructure`, `testing`, `ci-cd` |6970## Label Inheritance Pattern7172When creating a PR from an issue:731. Read issue labels via `gh issue view N --json labels`742. Apply same labels to PR: `gh pr create --label "label1,label2"`7576This maintains traceability and consistent categorization.7778## Agentic Optimizations7980| Context | Command |81|---------|---------|82| List all labels (machine-readable) | `gh label list --json name,description,color --limit 50` |83| Get label names only | `gh label list --json name -q '.[].name'` |84| Add label to PR silently | `gh pr edit $PR --add-label "label"` |85| Check current issue labels | `gh issue view $ISSUE --json labels -q '.labels[].name'` |86| Inherit labels from issue to PR | `gh issue view $ISSUE --json labels -q '[.labels[].name] | join(",")' | xargs -I{} gh pr edit $PR --add-label {}` |8788---89> Converted and distributed by [TomeVault](https://tomevault.io/claim/laurigates) — claim your Tome and manage your conversions.90<!-- tomevault:4.0:skill_md:2026-04-11 -->