/update-labels

name: update-labels
description: Reorganize GitHub issue labels into type, priority, and effort groups.
usage: /update-labels [--repo <owner/repo>] [--dry-run] [--preserve <label>...]

Update Labels

Reorganizes GitHub issue labels into a professional taxonomy. Creates distinct labels for issue types (feature, bugfix, test, docs, etc.), priorities, and effort estimates, then re-labels all issues accordingly.

**Custom Labels**: The taxonomy below serves as a foundation. **You should create custom labels** for project-specific needs:

**When to Add Custom Labels:**

• **Component areas** (e.g., `frontend`, `backend`, `api`, `database`)
• **Plugin/module names** (e.g., `sanctum`, `minister`, `pensive`)
• **Workflow states** (e.g., `blocked`, `ready-for-review`, `needs-investigation`)
• **Team ownership** (e.g., `team-platform`, `team-product`)
• **Technology-specific** (e.g., `python`, `typescript`, `rust`)

**Good Custom Label Examples:**

# Component-based
gh label create "frontend" --color "#C5DEF5" --description "Frontend/UI changes"
gh label create "api" --color "#006B75" --description "API and backend services"

# Project-specific
gh label create "sanctum" --color "#9B59B6" --description "Sanctum plugin work"
gh label create "hooks" --color "#E67E22" --description "Hook development"

# Workflow-specific
gh label create "blocked" --color "#B60205" --description "Blocked by external dependency"
gh label create "ready-for-review" --color "#0E8A16" --description "Ready for code review"

Custom labels should complement (not replace) the standard taxonomy. Keep them focused on project-specific classification that adds value beyond type/priority/effort.

Arguments

• `--repo <owner/repo>` - Target repository (default: current)
• `--dry-run` - Preview changes without applying them
• `--preserve <label>...` - Labels to keep unchanged (e.g., plugin-specific labels)
• `--skip-relabel` - Only create labels, don't update issues
• `--interactive` - Confirm each issue update

Label Taxonomy

Type Labels (Mutually Exclusive)

| Label | Color | Description | |-------|-------|-------------| | `feature` | `#1D76DB` | New functionality | | `bugfix` | `#D73A4A` | Bug fixes | | `test` | `#0E8A16` | Testing improvements | | `docs` | `#0075CA` | Documentation improvements | | `refactor` | `#FBCA04` | Code restructuring without behavior change | | `performance` | `#5319E7` | Optimization and efficiency | | `ci-cd` | `#006B75` | CI/CD and automation | | `research` | `#C5DEF5` | Investigation and exploration |

Priority Labels

| Label | Color | Description | |-------|-------|-------------| | `high-priority` | `#B60205` | Urgent or blocking | | `medium-priority` | `#FBCA04` | Normal priority | | `low-priority` | `#0E8A16` | Nice-to-have |

Effort Labels

| Label | Color | Description | |-------|-------|-------------| | `small-effort` | `#C2E0C6` | < 2 hours | | `medium-effort` | `#FEF2C0` | 2-8 hours | | `large-effort` | `#F9D0C4` | > 1 day |

Standard Labels (Preserved)

• `good first issue` - Good for newcomers
• `help wanted` - Extra attention is needed
• `duplicate`, `invalid`, `wontfix`, `question` - Status labels

Workflow

Phase 1: Analyze Current State

# List existing labels
gh label list --json name,description,color

# List all open issues with labels
gh issue list --state open --json number,title,labels

Identify:

• Labels to create (from taxonomy above)
• Labels to rename (e.g., `bug` -> `bugfix`, `documentation` -> `docs`)
• Labels to delete (e.g., `enhancement` catch-all)
• Labels to preserve (plugin-specific, user-specified)

Phase 2: Create/Update Labels

For each label in the taxonomy:

# Create if doesn't exist
gh label create "<name>" --description "<desc>" --color "<color>"

# Or update if exists with wrong attributes
gh label edit "<old-name>" --name "<new-name>" --description "<desc>" --color "<color>"

Phase 3: Classify Issues

For each open issue, analyze and determine appropriate labels:

**Type Classification Rules:**

| Issue Pattern | Type Label | |---------------|------------| | Title contains: `feat`, `add`, `implement`, `create` | `feature` | | Title contains: `fix`, `bug`, `broken`, `error` | `bugfix` | | Title contains: `test`, `coverage`, `spec` | `test` | | Title contains: `doc`, `readme`, `guide` | `docs` | | Title contains: `refactor`, `cleanup`, `rename` | `refactor` | | Title contains: `perf`, `optim`, `speed`, `slow` | `performance` | | Title contains: `ci`, `cd`, `pipeline`, `deploy` | `ci-cd` | | Title contains: `research`, `investigate`, `explore`, `discuss` | `research` |

**Effort Classification Rules:**

| Indicator | Effort Label | |-----------|--------------| | Has `good first issue` label | `small-effort` | | Body mentions "quick", "simple", "trivial" | `small-effort` | | Body mentions "complex", "significant", "major" | `large-effort` | | Default for features | `medium-effort` |

Phase 4: Apply Labels

# For each issue
gh issue edit <number> \
  --add-label "<type-label>" \
  --add-label "<effort-label>" \
  --remove-label "enhancement"  # Remove catch-all

Phase 5: Cleanup Obsolete Labels

# Delete labels that are now redundant
gh label delete "enhancement" --yes
gh label delete "suggestion" --yes

Phase 6: Report Results

Display summary:

## Label Taxonomy Update Complete

### Labels Created
| Label | Description |
|-------|-------------|
| feature | New functionality |
| ... | ... |

### Labels Renamed
| Old | New |
|-----|-----|
| documentation | docs |
| bug | bugfix |

### Labels Deleted
- enhancement (replaced by specific types)
- suggestion (redundant)

### Issues Updated
| Type | Count |
|------|-------|
| feature | 26 |
| test | 15 |
| docs | 8 |
| ... | ... |

**Total**: 60 issues updated

Examples

Example 1: Default Usage

/update-labels

Analyzing labels in athola/claude-night-market...

Current Stat