Unified Labeling System

[AndrewSazonov]

To simplify and unify issue and pull request management across the EasyScience organization, and to improve filtering, project tracking, and release automation, we define the following standardized set of labels.

Label groups

• [scope]

  • Color: #d73a4a (red)
  • Description:
    This group is unified across all projects and enforced on both issues and pull requests.
    The label [scope] ⚠️ label needed will be automatically added to every new issue or pull request.
    It must be replaced manually by contributors (or maintainers) with the correct label from the group.
    Labels in this group reflect the impact of the issue or PR on the version bump (major, minor, patch, post).
    Required on both issues and pull requests.

• [maintainer]

  • Color: #0e8a16 (green)
  • Description:
    This group is unified across all projects.
    These labels are intended for maintainers only and typically describe the state or decision about the issue or pull request.
    Optional. Added when relevant by maintainers.

• [priority]

  • Color: #fbca04 (yellow)
  • Description:
    This group is unified across all projects and enforced on issues.
    The label [priority] ⚠️ label needed will be automatically added to every new issue.
    It must be replaced manually by maintainers only with the correct label from the group.
    Helps prioritize tasks.
    Optional on PRs, but required on issues.

• [area]

  • Color: #1e90ff (sky blue)
  • Description:
    This group is project-specific, but the color is unified across all projects.
    It categorizes issues and PRs by functionality, component, or domain.
    Optional. Can be customized per project.

Label list

Label	Description
[scope] bug	Bug report or fix (major.minor.PATCH)
[scope] documentation	Documentation only changes (major.minor.patch.POST)
[scope] enhancement	Adds/improves features (major.MINOR.patch)
[scope] maintenance	Code/tooling cleanup, no feature or bugfix (major.minor.PATCH)
[scope] significant	Breaking or major changes (MAJOR.minor.patch)
[maintainer] duplicate	Already reported or submitted
[maintainer] good first issue	Good entry-level issue for newcomers
[maintainer] help wanted	Needs additional help to resolve or implement
[maintainer] invalid	Invalid, incorrect or outdated
[maintainer] question	Needs clarification, discussion, or more information
[maintainer] wontfix	Will not be fixed or continued
[priority] lowest	Very low urgency
[priority] low	Low importance
[priority] medium	Normal/default priority
[priority] high	Should be prioritized soon
[priority] highest	Urgent. Needs attention ASAP
[area] borg	Borg-specific code or logic
[area] fitting	Related to model fitting or optimizers
[area] polarized	For polarization-related data or features

Notes

• Color choices

  • [scope] is red, because it directly relates to versioning and release impact.
  • [maintainer] is green, indicating decisions or validation by maintainers.
  • [priority] is yellow, following common urgency/priority conventions.
  • [area] is sky blue, to visually distinguish functionality or domain-specific groupings.

• Enforcement

  • [scope] is enforced on both issues and pull requests (required for version bump determination).
  • [priority] is enforced on issues to ensure clear task prioritization.
  • [maintainer] and [area] are optional but recommended for better filtering and organization.

• Customization for projects

  • [area] labels can be customized for each project (for example, EasyDiffraction may have different areas than EasyImaging).
  • The [area] examples listed above are illustrative and can be expanded or adjusted as needed.

Links to the original discussions: #21