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Community Discussion Labeling

Review prepared discussions from the target discussion repository and assign label changes through safe outputs.

  • Use the staged safe-output update-discussion action when a label change is warranted.
  • Use /tmp/gh-aw/agent/discussion-scan/ as the source of truth, especially discussions.jsonl, request.json, summary.json, and allowlists.json.
  • Review every prepared discussion in the current input set, including discussions that already have labels.
  • If target_discussion_number is present in request.json, treat the run as a targeted follow-up for a discussion that was just created or recategorized.
  • Only propose labels that appear in the allowed-labels list defined in the workflow file or in allowlists.json. Never invent, abbreviate, or modify label names. If no label from the list fits or confidence is low, skip the discussion.
  • Base decisions on visible signals only: category, title, body, current labels, and repeated keywords.
  • Use inactive when inactive_signal.eligible is true. Treat it as eligible when either the discussion has had no comments for at least 30 days or it has had no updates for at least 30 days.
  • Propose the smallest useful label change.
  • Output may include discussion numbers and titles, but not direct discussion URLs.
  • If no discussion in the batch warrants a change, end with noop.
  • After all label changes have been applied, use the create_issue tool to create a summary issue listing total discussions reviewed, total label changes applied, and a table of changes (discussion number, labels added, reason). If no changes were needed, call noop instead.

Division of Responsibilities

Many labels are applied automatically by other workflows at discussion creation time. Do not duplicate or compete with those systems. Your role is to fill the gaps they leave — complementary labels, lifecycle labels, and corrections on older discussions that predate the automation.

Labels set automatically by other workflows — do not re-apply unless clearly missing

These labels may already be applied by upstream automation before this workflow runs.

Label(s) Set by
Bug, Question, Product Feedback reason-for-posting-labeler.yml — parsed from the 🏷️ Discussion Type template dropdown (values are now Bug, Product Feedback, Question; "Show & Tell" and "General" were removed)
Category/topic-area labels (e.g. Actions, VS Code, Copilot, Repositories, Issues, Apps API and Webhooks, GitHub Learn, Other Features and Feedback) feature-topic-area-labeler.yml — parsed from the 💬 Feature/Topic Area template dropdown
Workflow Deployment, Workflow Configuration, Schedule & Cron Jobs, Metrics & Insights actions_labeller.yml — keyword matching on Actions-category discussions
Welcome 🎉 welcome_first_time_discussion_author_live.yml — first-time author detection
A Welcome to GitHub Template auto-label — applied by the a-welcome-to-github.yml discussion template on creation
source:ui, source:other source_check.py — template vs. API submission detection

Only restore one of these labels when it is clearly absent and the evidence is unambiguous (for example, a discussion that predates the automation and has no topic label at all).

Labels never applied by this workflow

The following labels are owned by other teams, product cycles, or program workflows. Do not apply or remove them regardless of discussion content:

  • Release / product cycle: :rocket: Shipped, 🛣 On the Roadmap, :mega: ANNOUNCEMENT, Incident :exclamation:, Beta
  • Event-specific: Universe 2023, Universe 2024, Universe 2025, Opus 4.5 availability, Opus 4.5 multiplier update
  • Maintainer triage: Transferred, In Backlog, Temp, Duplicate, More Information Needed
  • Program-specific: Campus Experts, From Campus to Community, Octernships, Graduation, Speaker, Maintainer Love :heart:, Show & Tell, Monthly Digest, Community Check-In, Community Activity
  • Source / submission tracking: source:ui, source:other (set by source_check.py)
  • Template-applied category labels: A Welcome to GitHub (set by the Welcome template on creation)
  • Education sub-labels: all Education: * labels (set via form dropdowns by the user or education team)

Pre-computed Signals

Each discussion includes a label_hints object with a pre-computed signal. Use it as a hard, deterministic input.

  • label_hints.welcome_candidate: true when this is the author's first discussion the repository. Apply Welcome 🎉 whenever this field is true (the normal automation may not have run yet for this batch).

Key Label Rules

Welcome 🎉

Apply Welcome 🎉 when label_hints.welcome_candidate is true. This is a deterministic signal set by the prep script and does not require additional confirmation from the discussion content.

Question

Apply Question when the discussion is clearly asking for help, guidance, or an answer, and no Question label is already present. Strong signals: title ends with ?, title begins with an interrogative word (How, What, Why, Where, Can I, Is it), or the body explicitly requests help. A discussion can carry both Question and a topic label such as Actions or Copilot.

Copilot vs. Copilot in GitHub

  • Use Copilot in GitHub when the discussion specifically concerns using Copilot on github.com or inside an IDE extension (VS Code, JetBrains, Neovim, Visual Studio, etc.), including inline suggestions, the Copilot extension, or editor-specific configuration.
  • Use the generic Copilot label only for broad discussions about GitHub Copilot that do not target a specific product surface or integration.
  • Do not apply both labels to the same discussion. Copilot in GitHub takes precedence when the evidence points to IDE or github.com usage.
  • For discussions specifically about Copilot Agent Mode, Copilot Coding Agent, or Copilot Workspace, prefer those narrower labels over the generic Copilot label.
  • For plan/tier discussions (billing, seat limits, admin controls), use Copilot for Business or Copilot Enterprise as appropriate. Do not apply both.

GitHub Education Benefits

Apply GitHub Education Benefits only when the discussion explicitly concerns the GitHub Student or Teacher Developer Pack or the redemption of academic discounts. For general GitHub Education topics, prefer GitHub Education, GitHub Education Verification, or the appropriate Education: sub-label instead. Do not apply any Education: * sub-label — these are set via form dropdowns.

Accessibility

Apply Accessibility when the discussion is specifically about accessibility features, screen readers, WCAG compliance, ARIA attributes, keyboard navigation, or other assistive technology concerns. Require explicit mention of accessibility in the title or body before applying this label.

Apps API and Webhooks

Apply Apps API and Webhooks to discussions in the renamed Apps, API and Webhooks category (previously "API and Webhooks"). This label replaces the old API and Webhooks label. If a discussion still carries the legacy API and Webhooks label, leave it — do not remove it, but apply Apps API and Webhooks for new discussions in this category.

GitHub Learn

Apply GitHub Learn when the discussion is about GitHub Certifications, Learning Pathways, or GitHub Skills courses. This is a new category. Do not confuse with GitHub Education (which covers the Student/Teacher Developer Pack and campus programs).

Other Features and Feedback

Apply Other Features and Feedback to discussions that belong to the new catch-all category covering topics formerly in the deleted categories: Code Search & Navigation, Feed, Lists, Models, Pages, Profile, and Sponsors. If a more specific label (e.g. Code Search and Navigation, Pages, Profile, Sponsors, Lists, Models, Feed) is appropriate and still exists in the allowlist, prefer it over the generic category label.

Deleted upstream categories

The following discussion categories were removed upstream and merged into either Apps, API and Webhooks or Other Features and Feedback: api-and-webhooks, code-search-and-navigation, feed, general, lists, models, pages, profile, sponsors. Discussions migrated from these categories may appear with stale category metadata. Label based on content, not the old category name.