Describe the feature or problem you'd like to solve
There is currently no way to remove a single label from an issue without replacing the issue's entire label set. The only issue-label tool, update_issue_labels (pkg/github/issues_granular.go), states in its own description: "This replaces the current labels with the provided list."
To remove one label, a client must:
- Read all current labels on the issue
- Compute the full set minus the one to remove
- Send the complete remaining set back
If step 1 or 2 is incomplete or stale, labels are silently dropped. This read-modify-write pattern is error-prone for agents and adds round-trips.
Proposed solution
Add discrete, non-destructive tools backed by the existing REST endpoints:
add_label_to_issue → POST /repos/{owner}/{repo}/issues/{issue_number}/labelsremove_label_from_issue → DELETE /repos/{owner}/{repo}/issues/{issue_number}/labels/{name}
These operate on a single label without touching the rest of the issue's labels.
Precedent in the codebase
Sub-issues already follow exactly this granular pattern with add_sub_issue and remove_sub_issue, rather than forcing a full-set replacement. Labels-on-issues would benefit from the same treatment.
Additional context
Related to #2412 (bulk/batch label operations). This proposal is the single-issue, single-label complement: #2412 covers operating across many issues at once, while this covers safely adding/removing one label on one issue without clobbering the others.
Describe the feature or problem you'd like to solve
There is currently no way to remove a single label from an issue without replacing the issue's entire label set. The only issue-label tool,
update_issue_labels(pkg/github/issues_granular.go), states in its own description: "This replaces the current labels with the provided list."To remove one label, a client must:
If step 1 or 2 is incomplete or stale, labels are silently dropped. This read-modify-write pattern is error-prone for agents and adds round-trips.
Proposed solution
Add discrete, non-destructive tools backed by the existing REST endpoints:
add_label_to_issue→POST /repos/{owner}/{repo}/issues/{issue_number}/labelsremove_label_from_issue→DELETE /repos/{owner}/{repo}/issues/{issue_number}/labels/{name}These operate on a single label without touching the rest of the issue's labels.
Precedent in the codebase
Sub-issues already follow exactly this granular pattern with
add_sub_issueandremove_sub_issue, rather than forcing a full-set replacement. Labels-on-issues would benefit from the same treatment.Additional context
Related to #2412 (bulk/batch label operations). This proposal is the single-issue, single-label complement: #2412 covers operating across many issues at once, while this covers safely adding/removing one label on one issue without clobbering the others.