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Say what an issue or pull request is with colored labels, filter lists by them, and manage a repository's labels.

A label says what an issue or a pull request is: a bug, a question, good first issue. Each repository has its own labels, each with a name, a color and a description. Issues and pull requests carry them by name, lists show them as colored chips, and you can filter either list by one.

The labels a repository starts with

Section titled “The labels a repository starts with”

A new repository starts with these:

Label Color Description
bug d73a4a Something isn’t working
documentation 0075ca Improvements or additions to documentation
duplicate cfd3d7 This issue or pull request already exists
enhancement a2eeef New feature or request
good first issue 7057ff Good for newcomers
help wanted 008672 Extra attention is needed
invalid e4e669 This doesn’t seem right
question d876e3 Further information is requested
wontfix ffffff This will not be worked on
dependencies 0366d6 Updates a dependency
security ee0701 A security fix or a vulnerability

A repository made before labels had colors kept every label its issues already carried. To give it the defaults too:

  1. Open the project’s Issues, then Labels.
  2. Choose Add the default labels.

Labels the repository has already are left as they are.

Put labels on an issue or a pull request

Section titled “Put labels on an issue or a pull request”
  1. Open the issue or pull request.
  2. In the sidebar, choose the settings icon beside Labels.
  3. Tick labels on and off. Type to find one by its name or description.
  4. Close the menu. The labels save as it closes.

Each label put on or taken off is noted in the conversation, and is an issue.labeled or issue.unlabeled event (pull.labeled and pull.unlabeled on a pull request).

Who may do this:

  • The author of an issue or a pull request, and whoever asked g1t for one, may use the repository’s labels on it.
  • Anyone with the Triage role or higher may label anything, and make a label as they go: type a name the repository does not have, and choose Create.

An issue or a pull request carries at most 20 labels.

You can label an issue as you open it, too: tick labels on New issue, or with the Write role, type new ones beside them.

Filter by a label

Section titled “Filter by a label”

On Issues or Pull requests, choose Label and pick one. The address keeps it, as ?label=bug, so the filtered list can be shared. You can also write it as ?q=label:bug, with quotes around a name with spaces: ?q=label:"good first issue". Clear filters shows everything again.

Manage a repository’s labels

Section titled “Manage a repository’s labels”

Open Issues, then Labels, at g1t.sh/<owner>/<repo>/labels. It lists every label with its description and how many issues and pull requests carry it; choose a count to see them. Search finds a label by its name or description.

With the Write role or higher you can (applying labels needs only Triage):

To Do this
Make a label New label: a name (lowercase, at most 50 characters), a description (at most 100), and a color.
Change one Edit. Renaming a label renames it on every issue and pull request that carries it.
Delete one Delete. It comes off everything that carries it. This cannot be undone.

Names are lowercase and unique in a repository: Bug and bug are the same label.

Labels and g1t

Section titled “Labels and g1t”
  • An agent rule can queue an issue for g1t when it is given a label.
  • Dependency updates carry dependencies and their ecosystem’s label (javascript, rust, go, python, …) unless labels in the file says otherwise. Labels the repository lacks are made for them.
  • Workflows can start on labeled and unlabeled activity of issues and pull_request.

From the API

Section titled “From the API”
To REST MCP
List labels GET /repos/{owner}/{name}/labels repository list_labels
Make one POST /repos/{owner}/{name}/labels repository create_label
Change one PATCH /repos/{owner}/{name}/labels/{label} repository update_label
Delete one DELETE /repos/{owner}/{name}/labels/{label} repository delete_label
Add the defaults POST /repos/{owner}/{name}/labels/defaults repository add_default_labels
An item’s labels GET /repos/{owner}/{name}/issues/{number}/labels issue labels
Add labels POST /repos/{owner}/{name}/issues/{number}/labels issue add_labels
Replace them PUT /repos/{owner}/{name}/issues/{number}/labels issue set_labels
Take one off DELETE /repos/{owner}/{name}/issues/{number}/labels/{label} issue remove_labels
Take all off DELETE /repos/{owner}/{name}/issues/{number}/labels issue remove_labels

The issues/{number}/labels routes work on pull requests too, since issues and pull requests share numbers. URL-encode a label’s spaces in a path: good%20first%20issue.

curl -X POST https://api.g1t.sh/repos/acme/web/issues/12/labels \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $G1T_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"labels": ["bug", "help wanted"]}'

labels on create_issue, update_issue and update_pull_request set them as well, and label filters list_issues and list_pull_requests. Managing labels needs a token with issues:write.