10 GitHub Labels Best Practices

GitHub labels are a great way to organize and categorize issues and pull requests. They can also be used to track the progress of work and to communicate with team members.

However, labels can also be a source of frustration if they are not used properly. In this article, we will discuss 10 GitHub label best practices that will help you use labels effectively and avoid common pitfalls.

1. Use labels to organize issues and pull requests

When you have a lot of issues and pull requests, it can be hard to keep track of everything. Labels help you organize and prioritize your work so you can focus on what’s most important.

GitHub has a few default labels that you can use, or you can create your own custom labels. To create a custom label, go to the Issues page and click on the Labels tab. From there, you can create a new label with whatever name and color you want.

Once you’ve created your labels, you can start applying them to issues and pull requests. To do this, simply click on the issue or pull request and then click on the Labels button. From there, you can select the labels you want to apply.

Applying labels to your issues and pull requests is a great way to keep track of everything and make sure nothing falls through the cracks.

2. Create a label for each project or team in your organization

When you have a lot of repositories, it can be hard to keep track of which issues are related to which project. By creating a label for each project or team, you can quickly and easily see which issues are related to which project.

For example, let’s say you have a label called “project-A” and another label called “project-B.” If an issue is labeled with “project-A,” you know that the issue is related to project A. This can be very helpful when you’re trying to triage issues or find a specific issue.

Creating labels for each project or team also allows you to quickly filter issues by project. For example, if you want to see all of the issues for project A, you can simply filter the issues by the “project-A” label. This can be very helpful when you’re trying to find a specific issue or when you’re trying to get an overview of all of the issues for a particular project.

3. Add descriptive labels to help people find related issues

If you have a lot of issues, it can be hard to find the ones that are related to each other. By adding labels, you can make it easier for people to find the issues they’re looking for. For example, if you have an issue about a bug in your code, you can add a label called “bug.” Then, when someone is looking for all the bugs in your code, they can just filter by that label.

This also makes it easier for you to find issues yourself. If you’re looking for all the issues that are related to a certain feature, you can just filter by the label for that feature.

Adding labels is a great way to organize your issues and make them easier to find.

4. Use color-coded labels to categorize issues by priority, status, or type

When you have a lot of issues to triage, it can be helpful to see at a glance which ones are the most important. By using color-coded labels, you can quickly scan through a list of issues and identify which ones need your attention first.

You can also use color-coding to indicate the status of an issue. For example, you could use a green label for “ready to be worked on” and a red label for “needs more information.” This is a great way to keep track of the progress of an issue and make sure that nothing falls through the cracks.

Finally, you can use color-coding to differentiate between different types of issues. For example, you could use a blue label for “bug” and a yellow label for “feature request.” This is a great way to quickly scan through a list of issues and find the ones that you’re interested in.

5. Label issues with the names of teams that are working on them

When an issue is labeled with the name of the team that’s working on it, everyone in the company knows which team is responsible for fixing it. This way, if someone has a question about the issue, they know who to ask. It also prevents multiple teams from working on the same issue, which can lead to duplication of effort.

Additionally, labeling issues with team names makes it easy to see which issues are being worked on by which teams. This can be helpful when trying to prioritize work, or when looking for areas where teams might need more help.

Finally, labeling issues with team names can help managers keep track of which teams are working on which issues. This information can be used to identify areas where teams are struggling, or to give credit where it’s due when a team resolves a particularly difficult issue.

6. Label issues with their current state (ex: “in progress”)

When multiple people are working on the same project, it’s important to know who is currently working on what. By labeling issues with their current state, you can quickly see which issues are being worked on and who is working on them. This helps avoid duplication of work and ensures that everyone is aware of what needs to be done.

It’s also a good idea to label issues with their priority, for example “high priority”. This helps ensure that the most important issues are addressed first.

7. Label pull requests with their review status (ex: “approved”)

When a pull request is created, it’s assigned a unique number. This number is used by GitHub to identify the pull request, and it’s also used by many automated tools (such as continuous integration servers) to trigger actions based on the pull request.

However, there’s a problem with using the pull request number to identify the review status of the pull request: the number doesn’t change when the review status changes. So, if a pull request is approved, the number will stay the same even if the pull request is later closed or reopened.

This can lead to confusion, because it’s not clear from the pull request number what the current review status of the pull request is. Labeling pull requests with their review status helps to solve this problem, because the label will be updated when the review status changes.

It’s also worth noting that labeling pull requests with their review status is a good way to communicate the review status to other people who are involved in the review process but don’t have access to the GitHub interface. For example, you could use a chatbot to post messages in a chat room whenever a pull request is approved or closed, and the chatbot could include the pull request number and review status label in the message.

8. Label issues with the name of the person who’s working on it

When multiple people are working on the same project, it can be difficult to keep track of who is responsible for what. By labeling issues with the name of the person who’s working on it, you can quickly and easily see who is responsible for each issue.

This also allows other members of the team to know who to contact if they have any questions about an issue.

Finally, by labeling issues with the name of the person who’s working on it, you can ensure that each issue is only worked on by one person at a time. This prevents two people from working on the same issue and potentially causing conflicts.

9. Label issues with the name of the product they’re associated with

If you have multiple products, then it’s important to be able to quickly see which issues are associated with which product. This is especially true if you have products that share the same codebase. By labeling issues with the name of the product, you can quickly and easily filter by product to find the issues you’re looking for.

Not only does this help with issue management, but it also helps with triaging. If you know which product an issue is associated with, you can quickly assign it to the appropriate team or individual for resolution.

Finally, labeling issues with the name of the product helps to create a historical record. As your products evolve over time, you can look back at old issues and see how they were handled. This can be helpful in understanding how your products have changed and evolved over time.

10. Label issues with the milestone they’ll be included in

When an issue is created, it’s not always clear when it will be resolved. By including a milestone label, you can give everyone a better idea of when to expect the issue to be fixed. This way, people can prioritize their work and know which issues they need to focus on first.

Plus, when you’re looking at the list of issues for a particular milestone, it’s easy to see which ones are still unresolved. This helps you identify any potential problems that might need to be addressed before the milestone is complete.