Content last updated 2026-01-13

Labels

Documentation on labels

This guide explains how Customer Support Operations uses GitLab labels.

Understanding labels

What are labels

Labels organize and track work across GitLab features. As projects grow from small teams to large organizations, labels help you track and manage increasing volumes of work. Labels:

  • Categorize issues, merge requests, and epics with custom attributes.
  • Filter content in lists and boards.
  • Prioritize work items with colors and descriptive titles.
  • Track priority and severity with scoped labels.
  • Structure workflows through organized groupings.

For Customer Support Operations, labels provide structured categorization of requests, enable workflow tracking through issue boards, and help prioritize and route work across the team.

Labels used by Customer Support Operations

Stage labels

These are used to indicate what stage an issue is currently at.

Label Meaning
Stage::Triage This is where issues begin. It is here a decision about whether work is going to be accepted will occur
Stage::Planning It is here a gameplan for the issue will be created
Stage::Scheduling It is here that when to work an issue will be determined
Stage::Queued It is here issues being worked in the future wait
Stage::Development It is here current development work will be done (traditionally in sandboxes)
Stage::Validation It is here validation from the issue requester is obtained
Stage::Implementation It is here work will be done to implement it (using work done in the Development stage)
Stage::Completed This indicates the issue is completed
Stage::Backlogged This indicates an issue is backlogged
Stage::Blocked This indicates something is blocking moving forward on an issue

Note: These are scoped labels, meaning only one of them can ever be present on an issue at a time.

Validation labels

These are used to indicate the status of validation on an issue (which occurs in the Development stage).

Label Meaning
Validation::Skipped This means no validation was done for an issue
Validation::Awaiting This means Customer Support Operations is waiting on validation to be completed
Validation::Received This means validation was received
Validation::Rejected This means validation was rejected

Note: These are scoped labels, meaning only one of them can ever be present on an issue at a time.

Request type labels

These are used to indicate the type of request an issue is.

Label Meaning
RequestType::Bug The issue is concerning a bug
RequestType::Feature The issue is concerning a feature request/change
RequestType::Incident The issue is concerning an incident
RequestType::Administrative The issue is concerning administrative work

Note: These are scoped labels, meaning only one of them can ever be present on an issue at a time.

Customer labels

These are used to indicate what team/department made the request.

Label Meaning
Customer::ETA The request is from the ETA team
Customer::Security The request is from the Security team
Customer::Engineering The request is from the Engineering team
Customer::Finance The request is from the Finance team
Customer::People The request is from the People team
Customer::Support The request is from the Support team
Customer::Field The request is from the Field team
Customer::Marketing The request is from the Marketing team

Note: These are scoped labels, meaning only one of them can ever be present on an issue at a time.

Priority labels

These are used to indicate the priority level of an issue.

Label Meaning
Priority::1 It is a priority 1 (urgent) level issue
Priority::2 It is a priority 2 (high) level issue
Priority::3 It is a priority 3 (medium) level issue
Priority::4 It is a priority 4 (low) level issue

Note: These are scoped labels, meaning only one of them can ever be present on an issue at a time.

Roadmap labels

These are used to indicate if an issue is tied to a roadmap.

Label Meaning
roadmap_item The issue is pertaining to an item on a roadmap

Applying a label

To apply a label to an issue or merge request, you can either click Edit next to Labels on the right-side panel of the issue/merge request or you can use the label quick command:

/label ~"TITLE_OF_LABEL"

Note: The tilde (~) is required and you should replace TITLE_OF_LABEL with the title of the label itself. As an example:

/label ~"Stage::Planning"

Removing a label

To remove a label from an issue or merge request, you can either click Edit next to Labels on the right-side panel of the issue/merge request or you can use the unlabel quick command:

/unlabel ~"TITLE_OF_LABEL"

Note: The tilde (~) is required and you should replace TITLE_OF_LABEL with the title of the label itself. As an example:

/unlabel ~"roadmap_item"
Last modified January 21, 2026: Revamp CustSuppOps handbook (7d49549f)