Why does creating a PR force me to create a label I do NOT want to create?

[rfalanga]

🏷️ Discussion Type

Bug

💬 Feature/Topic Area

Workflow Configuration

Discussion Details

In the last few days, I have tried to create a PR to merge one branch into another, but somehow (I have no idea how) GitHub insists, in fact it demands, that I create a label which is my GitHub account name.

I have no idea how my GitHub account got into that "Apply labels to this pull request" field. But it will NOT let me do anything else with it!! Every time I delete my name from that field it immediately puts it back in. Over and over and over and over again. At this point I can never use any other label because GitHub.com will not let me.

How did this happen?

Why won't it let me stop it, get rid of this bogus "new label"?

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[maheerCodes]

hey @rfalanga 👋 .
this is almost certainly an automated labeler workflow in the repo ,,,not something on your account / browser side.someone(maybe you ,maybe another maintainer)likely set up a github action that auto-applies a label based on the pr author's username ,,, and its misconfigured to keep re-applying even after you remove it .

how to confirm and fix it :

• go to the repo's .github/workflows/ folder ,,,look for any yaml file with "label" in the name ,or searchh the repo for actions/labeler or similar action names. also check for a .github/labeler.yml config file specifically,,,thats the most common setup for username/ author-based auto-labeling,
• if you find a workflow triggered on: pull_request_target or on: pull_request that has a labeling step ,,,thats your culprit. it's probably configured with something like ${{ github.actor }} being used to dynamically create /apply a label matching whoever opens the pr.
• if you don't have admin/write access to the repo to see /edit workflows ,, this needs to be flagged to whoever does have admin access,,,,since you genuinely cant fix this from the pr creation screen itself.the workflow runs server-side the moment you open the pr ,so deleting the label manually willl always lose that race.

this isnt a general github bug affecting everyone,,,,,its specific to this repo's automation setup. if its not your repo ,id reach out to the repo owner /admin directly with a screenshot since they're the only ones who can actually disable or fix that workflow 💙💙💙💙

[rfalanga]

Oh, so this isn't a bug which could affect others. I'm sorry to have posted it here.

I didn't find any YAML file in .github/workflows which has "Label" in its name. But You've got me wondering if there isn't something like that, somewhere else.

[maheerCodes]

no worries at all on posting here ,,,and actually looking at your screenshot more carefully now,i think i led you down the wrong path. let me correct myself .

looking closely,,,that's not an applied label sitting in a locked field. that's the search / filter textbox for the labels dropdown,,,with "rfalanga" typed into it, and below it github is offering "Create new label 'rfalanga'" as a suggestion since no existing label matches that search text. so technically nothing has actually been applied yet ,,, its just sitting in the search input.

so the real question becomes : why does that search box keep getting "rfalanga" typed into it on its own?
that points to something different than my original theory :

• browser autofill /extension interference ,,,since "rfalanga" is your own username, its plausible a browser extension(password manager ,form-filler ,grammarly-style tools)is auto-populating that field thinking its a username/ text input. try this exact field specificallly in a clean incognito window with all extensions off ,,if it stays empty there, thats your answer .
• browser saved form data /autofill suggestions ,,, chrome /edge sometimes remembers text typed into similar-looking fields and re-suggests it. try clearing autofill form data specifically (not just cache) in browser settings,
• check if you have any passsword manager or autofill extension thats particularly aggressive about filling text boxes,,,bitwarden ,1password ,dashlane etc sometimess do this on unexpected fields.

sorry for sending you on a wild goose chase through workflow files for nothing,,,,,,this looks much more like a browser-side autofill quirk than a repo automation issue now that i can see the actual field clearly💙💙💙💙💙.

[samus-aran]

Welcome to the GitHub Community, @rfalanga ! You are more likely to get a useful response if you are posting your question(s) in the applicable category. I've gone ahead and moved it for you. Good luck!

[rfalanga]

Thank you, I was not sure which category to use, so I appreciate your applying the better one.