@boxpistols/labels-config

Terminal-first GitHub label management - Simple, fast, no token needed.

Manage GitHub labels from your terminal using gh CLI. No manual token setup required.

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Quick Start

# 1. Install gh CLI and authenticate (one-time setup)
brew install gh  # macOS
gh auth login

# 2. Install labels-config
npm install -g @boxpistols/labels-config

# 3. Initialize from template
labels-config init minimal --file labels.json

# 4. Sync to your repository
labels-config sync --owner your-name --repo your-repo --file labels.json

Done! Your labels are synced.

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Features

• Terminal-First: No token management - uses gh CLI authentication
• Simple CLI: 5 commands, straightforward usage
• Pre-built Templates: 9 ready-to-use label sets
• Validation: Check your config before syncing
• Dry Run: Preview changes before applying

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Installation

Prerequisites

Install and authenticate gh CLI:

# macOS
brew install gh

# Linux (Debian/Ubuntu)
sudo apt install gh

# Windows
winget install --id GitHub.cli

# Authenticate
gh auth login

Install labels-config

npm install -g @boxpistols/labels-config

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Usage

Understanding init vs sync

Important: The init command creates a local configuration file - it does NOT sync to GitHub.

Command	What it does
init	Creates labels.json locally (no GitHub changes)
sync	Applies labels.json to your GitHub repository

Example workflow:

# Step 1: Create local config file (no GitHub changes yet)
labels-config init prod-ja --file labels.json

# Step 2: Check what's in the file
cat labels.json

# Step 3: Apply to GitHub (this actually changes your labels)
labels-config sync --owner your-name --repo your-repo --file labels.json

1. Create label configuration

From template:

labels-config init minimal --file labels.json

Available templates:

• minimal - Basic 3-label set (bug, feature, documentation)
• github - GitHub standard labels
• prod-ja - Production project (Japanese, 14 labels)
• prod-en - Production project (English, 14 labels)
• agile - Agile/Scrum workflow
• react, vue, frontend - Framework-specific

2. Validate configuration

labels-config validate labels.json

3. Preview changes (dry run)

labels-config sync \
  --owner your-name \
  --repo your-repo \
  --file labels.json \
  --dry-run \
  --verbose

4. Sync to GitHub

Append mode (default - keeps existing labels):

labels-config sync --owner your-name --repo your-repo --file labels.json

Replace mode (removes unlisted labels):

labels-config sync --owner your-name --repo your-repo --file labels.json --delete-extra

5. Export existing labels

labels-config export --owner your-name --repo your-repo --file exported.json

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CLI Commands

Command	Description
init <template>	Create label config from template
validate <file>	Validate label configuration
sync	Sync labels to GitHub
export	Export labels from GitHub
help	Show help

Options

Option	Description
--owner <name>	Repository owner
--repo <name>	Repository name
--file <path>	Config file path
--dry-run	Preview changes only
--delete-extra	Delete unlisted labels (replace mode)
--verbose	Show detailed output

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Label Configuration Format

{
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "labels": [
    {
      "name": "bug",
      "color": "d73a4a",
      "description": "Something isn't working"
    },
    {
      "name": "feature",
      "color": "0e8a16",
      "description": "New feature request"
    }
  ]
}

Requirements:

• name: 1-50 characters
• color: 3 or 6 character hex code (without #)
• description: 1-200 characters

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Sync Modes

Append Mode (Default)

Adds new labels and updates existing ones. Keeps labels not in your config.

labels-config sync --owner user --repo repo --file labels.json

Replace Mode

Deletes all labels not in your config. Complete control.

labels-config sync --owner user --repo repo --file labels.json --delete-extra

⚠️ Warning: Replace mode removes labels from all issues and PRs. Always use --dry-run first!

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Multi-Repository Sync

Sync the same labels to multiple repositories:

#!/bin/bash
REPOS=("org/repo1" "org/repo2" "org/repo3")

for REPO in "${REPOS[@]}"; do
  OWNER=$(echo $REPO | cut -d'/' -f1)
  REPO_NAME=$(echo $REPO | cut -d'/' -f2)

  labels-config sync \
    --owner $OWNER \
    --repo $REPO_NAME \
    --file labels.json \
    --verbose
done

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Workflow Integration

GitHub Actions

name: Sync Labels

on:
  push:
    paths:
      - 'labels.json'
    branches:
      - main

jobs:
  sync:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Setup Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: '18'

      - name: Install labels-config
        run: npm install -g @boxpistols/labels-config

      - name: Install gh CLI
        run: |
          sudo apt update
          sudo apt install gh -y

      - name: Authenticate gh CLI
        env:
          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
        run: echo "$GITHUB_TOKEN" | gh auth login --with-token

      - name: Sync labels
        run: |
          labels-config sync \
            --owner ${{ github.repository_owner }} \
            --repo ${{ github.event.repository.name }} \
            --file labels.json \
            --verbose

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🔐 Security & Publishing

Automated npm Publishing with Trusted Publishers (OIDC)

This package uses npm Trusted Publishers (OIDC) for secure, automated publishing. No long-lived tokens required!

Key Features:

• ✅ Zero token management - GitHub Actions authenticates automatically
• ✅ Enhanced security - No risk of token leakage
• ✅ Automatic provenance - Package authenticity verification
• ✅ Auto-release on merge - Patch version published when merging to main

How It Works

Automatic Release (main branch):

# When you merge to main, the system automatically:
# 1. Bumps the patch version (e.g., 0.2.0 → 0.2.1)
# 2. Builds the package
# 3. Publishes to npm with provenance
# 4. Pushes the version tag

Manual Release: Use GitHub Actions UI to trigger manual releases with custom version bumps:

• Navigate to Actions → Manual Release
• Choose version type: patch / minor / major / prerelease
• Run the workflow

Skip Auto-Release: Include [skip ci] or [no release] in your commit message:

git commit -m "docs: update README [skip ci]"

Setup Required

For maintainers: OIDC publishing requires one-time setup in npm. See the detailed guide:

📖 Complete OIDC Setup Guide (in Japanese)

Note: npm Trusted Publisher setup must be done via npmjs.com Web UI. CLI/terminal configuration is not currently supported by npm.

Migration from Local Release Scripts

The following npm scripts have been removed (now automated via GitHub Actions):

# 🚫 No longer available
npm run release:patch
npm run release:minor
npm run release:major
npm run release:beta

All releases are now handled automatically through GitHub Actions workflows.

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Troubleshooting

Authentication failed

# Check gh CLI status
gh auth status

# Re-authenticate
gh auth login

# Refresh authentication
gh auth refresh

Validation errors

# Run validation to see specific errors
labels-config validate labels.json

# Common issues:
# - Duplicate label names
# - Invalid hex colors (must be 3 or 6 chars without #)
# - Name too long (max 50 chars)
# - Description too long (max 200 chars)

Labels not syncing

# Check with verbose output
labels-config sync --owner user --repo repo --file labels.json --verbose

# Try dry run to see what would change
labels-config sync --owner user --repo repo --file labels.json --dry-run --verbose

Rate limit exceeded

# Check rate limit status
gh api rate_limit

# Wait for reset (typically 60 minutes)

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Best Practices

✅ DO:

• Keep labels.json in version control
• Run --dry-run before actual sync
• Use semantic commit messages
• Document label purposes in your project
• Use consistent colors across projects

❌ DON'T:

• Delete labels without checking issue/PR usage
• Change label names frequently
• Skip validation before syncing

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Advanced Usage

As npm Package

You can also use this as a library in your code:

import { GitHubLabelSync } from '@boxpistols/labels-config/github'
import { CONFIG_TEMPLATES } from '@boxpistols/labels-config'

const sync = new GitHubLabelSync({
  owner: 'your-org',
  repo: 'your-repo'
})

const labels = CONFIG_TEMPLATES.minimal
await sync.syncLabels(labels)

Install in your project:

npm install @boxpistols/labels-config

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License

MIT

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Related

• 日本語 README
• npm Publish Release Flow (in Japanese)
• npm OIDC Setup Guide (in Japanese)

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Made for terminal users who love gh CLI 🚀