# Labels

Labels provide an easy way to categorize the issues or merge requests based on
descriptive titles like `bug`, `documentation` or any other text you feel like
it. They can have different colors, a description, and are visible throughout
the issue tracker or inside each issue individually.

With labels, you can navigate the issue tracker and filter any bloated
information to visualize only the issues you are interested in. Let's see how
that works.

## Create new labels

>**Note:**
A permission level of `Developer` or higher is required in order to manage
labels.

Head over a single project and navigate to the label page by clicking on
**Labels** in the left sidebar.

The first time you visit the **Labels** page you'll notice that there are no
labels created yet.

![Generate new labels](img/labels_generate.png)

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You can skip that and create a new label or click that link and GitLab will
generate a set of predefined labels for you. There 8 default generated labels
in total and you can see them in the screenshot below.

![Default generated labels](img/labels_default.png)

---

You can see that from the labels page you can have an overview of the number of
issues and merge requests assigned to each label.

Creating a new label from scratch is as easy as pressing the **New label**
button. From there on you can choose the name, give it an optional description,
a color and you are set.

When you are ready press the **Create label** button to create the new label.

![New label](img/labels_new_label.png)

## Create a new label right from the issue tracker

>**Note:**
This feature was introduced in GitLab 8.6.

There are times when you are already in the issue tracker searching for a
label, only to realize it doesn't exist. Instead of going to the **Labels**
page and being distracted from your original purpose, you can create new
labels on the fly.

Just hit **New Label** from the dropdown list, provide a name, pick a color
and hit **Create**.

![Create new label on the fly](img/labels_new_label_on_the_fly_create.png)
![New label on the fly](img/labels_new_label_on_the_fly.png)

## Assigning labels to issues and merge requests

There are generally two ways to assign a label to an issue or merge request.

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You can assign a label when you first create or edit an issue or merge request.

![Assign label in new issue](img/labels_assign_label_in_new_issue.png)

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The second way is by using the right sidebar. Expand it and hit **Edit**. Start
typing the name of the label you are looking for to narrow down the list and
select it. Once done, click outside the sidebar area for the changes to take
effect.

![Assign label in sidebar](img/labels_assign_label_sidebar.png)
![Save labels in sidebar](img/labels_assign_label_sidebar_saved.png)

---

To remove labels, follow the same procedure like when adding them and hit the
little **x** mark next to each one.

##  Use labels to filter issues

Once you start adding labels to your issues, you'll see the benefit of it.
Labels can have several uses, one of them being the quick filtering of issues
or merge requests.

Pick an existing label from the dropdown _Label_ menu or click on an existing
label from the issue tracker. In the latter case, you also get to see the
label description like shown below.

![Filter labels](img/labels_filter.png)

---

And if you added a description to your label, you can see it by hovering your
mouse over the label in the issue tracker.

![Label tooltips](img/labels_description_tooltip.png)

## Subscribe to labels

If you don’t want to miss issues or merge requests that are important to you,
simply subscribe to a label. You’ll get notified whenever the label gets added
to an issue or merge request, making sure you don’t miss a thing.

![Subscribe to labels](img/labels_subscribe.png)

If you work on a large or popular project, try subscribing only to the labels
that are relevant to you. You’ll notice it’ll be much easier to focus on what’s
important.