Manage GitHub labels from the command line

Rather than managing GitHub issue labels with the web interface, use this script to do so from the command line. This script makes it easier to delete default labels and add new ones from a standard list. It’s especially useful for organizations or users who want consistent issue labels across a large number of repositories.

Requirements

• Python 3
• Python modules: json, argparse, and requests
• GitHub authorization token

Set up

Get and store authorization token in file

If you don’t have one already, set up an authorization token with appropriate permissions using these instructions. Once created, save your token in a file on your computer. For example, you might create ~/.gh_token in your home directory that simply contains the token.

Label files

New labels should be stored in a JSON file. For example:

[
  {
	"name": "Priority: Critical",
	"description": "",
	"color": "e11d21"
  },
  {
	"name": "Priority: High",
	"description": "",
	"color": "eb6420"
  },
  {
	"name": "Priority: Medium",
	"description": "",
	"color": "fbca04"
  },
  {
	"name": "Priority: Low",
	"description": "",
	"color": "009800"
  }
]

Usage

Use the -h or --help flags to see the scripts arguments (arguments in square brackets are optional).

[~] $ ./manage_repo_labels.py -h

usage: manage_repo_labels.py [-h] -i ID -t TOKEN -r REPO [-o ORG] [-l LABELS]
                             [-c] [-d]

optional arguments:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  -i ID, --id ID        GitHub ID
  -t TOKEN, --token TOKEN
                        GitHub authorization token in file
  -r REPO, --repo REPO  Repository name
  -o ORG, --org ORG     Organization name
  -l LABELS, --labels LABELS
                        Labels in JSON file
  -c, --check_existing  Flag to check existing labels
  -d, --drop_existing   Flag to drop existing labels

Users must supply their GitHub ID, path to authorization token file, and the repository name. If the repository is owned by an organization, then the the organization name must be included. The script assumes the repository is owned by the user otherwise.

Check existing

./manage_repo_labels.py -i ID -t ~/.github_token -r my_repo -c

Delete existing

./manage_repo_labels.py -i ID -t ~/.github_token -r my_repo -d

Add new labels

./manage_repo_labels.py -i ID -t ~/.github_token -r my_repo -l new_repo_labels.json