---
stage: Plan
group: Project Management
info: To determine the technical writer assigned to the Stage/Group associated with this page, see https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/engineering/ux/technical-writing/#assignments
---
# Labels API **(FREE)**
Interact with [labels](../user/project/labels.md) using the REST API.
NOTE:
The `description_html` - was [added](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/merge_requests/21413) to response JSON in GitLab 12.7.
## List labels
Get all labels for a given project.
By default, this request returns 20 results at a time because the API results [are paginated](index.md#pagination).
```plaintext
GET /projects/:id/labels
```
| Attribute | Type | Required | Description |
| --------- | ------- | -------- | --------------------- |
| `id` | integer/string | yes | The ID or [URL-encoded path of the project](index.md#namespaced-path-encoding) owned by the authenticated user |
| `with_counts` | boolean | no | Whether or not to include issue and merge request counts. Defaults to `false`. _([Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-foss/-/merge_requests/31543) in GitLab 12.2)_ |
| `include_ancestor_groups` | boolean | no | Include ancestor groups. Defaults to `true`. |
| `search` | string | no | Keyword to filter labels by. [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/259024) in GitLab 13.6 |
```shell
curl --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: <your_access_token>" "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/projects/1/labels?with_counts=true"
```
Example response:
```json
[
{
"id" : 1,
"name" : "bug",
"color" : "#d9534f",
"text_color" : "#FFFFFF",
"description": "Bug reported by user",
"description_html": "Bug reported by user",
"open_issues_count": 1,
"closed_issues_count": 0,
"open_merge_requests_count": 1,
"subscribed": false,
"priority": 10,
"is_project_label": true
},
{
"id" : 4,
"color" : "#d9534f",
"text_color" : "#FFFFFF",
"name" : "confirmed",
"description": "Confirmed issue",
"description_html": "Confirmed issue",
"open_issues_count": 2,
"closed_issues_count": 5,
"open_merge_requests_count": 0,
"subscribed": false,
"priority": null,
"is_project_label": true
},
{
"id" : 7,
"name" : "critical",
"color" : "#d9534f",
"text_color" : "#FFFFFF",
"description": "Critical issue. Need fix ASAP",
"description_html": "Critical issue. Need fix ASAP",
"open_issues_count": 1,
"closed_issues_count": 3,
"open_merge_requests_count": 1,
"subscribed": false,
"priority": null,
"is_project_label": true
},
{
"id" : 8,
"name" : "documentation",
"color" : "#f0ad4e",
"text_color" : "#FFFFFF",
"description": "Issue about documentation",
"description_html": "Issue about documentation",
"open_issues_count": 1,
"closed_issues_count": 0,
"open_merge_requests_count": 2,
"subscribed": false,
"priority": null,
"is_project_label": false
},
{
"id" : 9,
"color" : "#5cb85c",
"text_color" : "#FFFFFF",
"name" : "enhancement",
"description": "Enhancement proposal",
"description_html": "Enhancement proposal",
"open_issues_count": 1,
"closed_issues_count": 0,
"open_merge_requests_count": 1,
"subscribed": true,
"priority": null,
"is_project_label": true
}
]
```
## Get a single project label
Get a single label for a given project.
```plaintext
GET /projects/:id/labels/:label_id
```
| Attribute | Type | Required | Description |
| --------- | ------- | -------- | --------------------- |
| `id` | integer or string | yes | The ID or [URL-encoded path of the project](index.md#namespaced-path-encoding) owned by the authenticated user |
| `label_id` | integer or string | yes | The ID or title of a project's label. |
| `include_ancestor_groups` | boolean | no | Include ancestor groups. Defaults to `true`. |
```shell
curl --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: <your_access_token>" "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/projects/1/labels/bug"
```
Example response:
```json
{
"id" : 1,
"name" : "bug",
"color" : "#d9534f",
"text_color" : "#FFFFFF",
"description": "Bug reported by user",
"description_html": "Bug reported by user",
"open_issues_count": 1,
"closed_issues_count": 0,
"open_merge_requests_count": 1,
"subscribed": false,
"priority": 10,
"is_project_label": true
}
```
## Create a new label
Creates a new label for the given repository with the given name and color.
```plaintext
POST /projects/:id/labels
```
| Attribute | Type | Required | Description |
| ------------- | ------- | -------- | ---------------------------- |
| `id` | integer/string | yes | The ID or [URL-encoded path of the project](index.md#namespaced-path-encoding) owned by the authenticated user |
| `name` | string | yes | The name of the label |
| `color` | string | yes | The color of the label given in 6-digit hex notation with leading '#' sign (for example, #FFAABB) or one of the [CSS color names](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/color_value#Color_keywords) |
| `description` | string | no | The description of the label |
| `priority` | integer | no | The priority of the label. Must be greater or equal than zero or `null` to remove the priority. |
```shell
curl --data "name=feature&color=#5843AD" --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: <your_access_token>" "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/projects/1/labels"
```
Example response:
```json
{
"id" : 10,
"name" : "feature",
"color" : "#5843AD",
"text_color" : "#FFFFFF",
"description":null,
"description_html":null,
"open_issues_count": 0,
"closed_issues_count": 0,
"open_merge_requests_count": 0,
"subscribed": false,
"priority": null,
"is_project_label": true
}
```
## Delete a label
Deletes a label with a given name.
```plaintext
DELETE /projects/:id/labels/:label_id
```
| Attribute | Type | Required | Description |
| --------- | ------- | -------- | --------------------- |
| `id` | integer or string | yes | The ID or [URL-encoded path of the project](index.md#namespaced-path-encoding) owned by the authenticated user |
| `label_id` | integer or string | yes | The ID or title of a group's label. |
```shell
curl --request DELETE --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: <your_access_token>" "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/projects/1/labels/bug"
```
NOTE:
An older endpoint `DELETE /projects/:id/labels` with `name` in the parameters is still available, but deprecated.
## Edit an existing label
Updates an existing label with new name or new color. At least one parameter
is required, to update the label.
```plaintext
PUT /projects/:id/labels/:label_id
```
| Attribute | Type | Required | Description |
| --------------- | ------- | --------------------------------- | ------------------------------- |
| `id` | integer or string | yes | The ID or [URL-encoded path of the project](index.md#namespaced-path-encoding) owned by the authenticated user |
| `label_id` | integer or string | yes | The ID or title of a group's label. |
| `new_name` | string | yes if `color` is not provided | The new name of the label |
| `color` | string | yes if `new_name` is not provided | The color of the label given in 6-digit hex notation with leading '#' sign (for example, #FFAABB) or one of the [CSS color names](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/color_value#Color_keywords) |
| `description` | string | no | The new description of the label |
| `priority` | integer | no | The new priority of the label. Must be greater or equal than zero or `null` to remove the priority. |
```shell
curl --request PUT --data "new_name=docs&color=#8E44AD&description=Documentation" \
--header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: <your_access_token>" "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/projects/1/labels/documentation"
```
Example response:
```json
{
"id" : 8,
"name" : "docs",
"color" : "#8E44AD",
"text_color" : "#FFFFFF",
"description": "Documentation",
"description_html": "Documentation",
"open_issues_count": 1,
"closed_issues_count": 0,
"open_merge_requests_count": 2,
"subscribed": false,
"priority": null,
"is_project_label": true
}
```
NOTE:
An older endpoint `PUT /projects/:id/labels` with `name` or `label_id` in the parameters is still available, but deprecated.
## Promote a project label to a group label
> - [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-foss/-/merge_requests/25218) in GitLab 12.3.
> - In [GitLab 13.6 and later](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/231472), promoting a
> project label keeps that label's ID and changes it into a group label. Previously, promoting a
> project label created a new group label with a new ID and deleted the old label.
Promotes a project label to a group label. The label keeps its ID.
```plaintext
PUT /projects/:id/labels/:label_id/promote
```
| Attribute | Type | Required | Description |
| --------------- | ------- | --------------------------------- | ------------------------------- |
| `id` | integer or string | yes | The ID or [URL-encoded path of the project](index.md#namespaced-path-encoding) owned by the authenticated user |
| `label_id` | integer or string | yes | The ID or title of a group's label. |
```shell
curl --request PUT --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: <your_access_token>" "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/projects/1/labels/documentation/promote"
```
Example response:
```json
{
"id" : 8,
"name" : "documentation",
"color" : "#8E44AD",
"description": "Documentation",
"description_html": "Documentation",
"open_issues_count": 1,
"closed_issues_count": 0,
"open_merge_requests_count": 2,
"subscribed": false
}
```
NOTE:
An older endpoint `PUT /projects/:id/labels/promote` with `name` in the parameters is still available, but deprecated.
## Subscribe to a label
Subscribes the authenticated user to a label to receive notifications.
If the user is already subscribed to the label, the status code `304`
is returned.
```plaintext
POST /projects/:id/labels/:label_id/subscribe
```
| Attribute | Type | Required | Description |
| ---------- | ----------------- | -------- | ------------------------------------ |
| `id` | integer or string | yes | The ID or [URL-encoded path of the project](index.md#namespaced-path-encoding) owned by the authenticated user |
| `label_id` | integer or string | yes | The ID or title of a project's label |
```shell
curl --request POST --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: <your_access_token>" "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/projects/5/labels/1/subscribe"
```
Example response:
```json
{
"id" : 1,
"name" : "bug",
"color" : "#d9534f",
"text_color" : "#FFFFFF",
"description": "Bug reported by user",
"description_html": "Bug reported by user",
"open_issues_count": 1,
"closed_issues_count": 0,
"open_merge_requests_count": 1,
"subscribed": true,
"priority": null,
"is_project_label": true
}
```
## Unsubscribe from a label
Unsubscribes the authenticated user from a label to not receive notifications
from it. If the user is not subscribed to the label, the
status code `304` is returned.
```plaintext
POST /projects/:id/labels/:label_id/unsubscribe
```
| Attribute | Type | Required | Description |
| ---------- | ----------------- | -------- | ------------------------------------ |
| `id` | integer or string | yes | The ID or [URL-encoded path of the project](index.md#namespaced-path-encoding) owned by the authenticated user |
| `label_id` | integer or string | yes | The ID or title of a project's label |
```shell
curl --request POST --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: <your_access_token>" "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/projects/5/labels/1/unsubscribe"
```