Add --add-label and --remove-label to issue update - #259
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The reporter asked for a way to detach a label from one issue without
deleting it team-wide, believing --label was additive. It actually
replaces the issue's entire label set (IssueUpdateInput.labelIds), so
the gap was wider than reported: adding one label clobbered the rest.
Rather than only the suggested --remove-label, this maps both
--add-label and --remove-label onto the API's addedLabelIds/
removedLabelIds (one atomic mutation, no read-modify-write). --label
keeps its documented replace semantics for existing scripts, with help
text that now says so. Flag names match gh issue edit, the surface
users and agents reach for first.
A --clear-labels flag was considered (an empty label set is currently
inexpressible in one command) and deliberately deferred: adding a flag
later is backwards compatible, removing one is breaking, and nothing
has asked for clear-all yet.
Invalid combinations error before any network call: --label with
incremental flags, the same resolved label ID in both add and remove,
and --team moves combined with incremental flags (label names resolve
against the destination team, which would make source-team labels
silently unresolvable). Live QA confirmed removing an unattached label
is rejected by Linear's API ("Label <id> is not on issue <id>"), not a
silent no-op — surfaced as-is, consistent with the repo's
explicit-input-errors philosophy.
The reporter's alternative ask (label rename) is deferred: it is
team-wide and would not solve the per-issue detach workflow.
Github-Issue: Fixes #258
Github-Issue-Url: #258
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Adds per-issue incremental label operations to
linear issue update, mapped onto the API'saddedLabelIds/removedLabelIdsin a single atomic mutation (no read-modify-write):This intentionally goes beyond the reported ask. The issue assumed
--labelwas additive; it actually replaces the entire label set, so adding one label clobbered the rest —--add-labelfixes that side too.--labelkeeps its documented replace semantics for existing scripts, with help text that now says so explicitly. Flag names matchgh issue edit.A
--clear-labelsflag was considered (an empty label set is currently inexpressible in one command) and deliberately deferred: adding a flag later is backwards compatible, removing a released one is breaking, and nothing has asked for clear-all yet.Invalid combinations error before any network call:
--labelwith incremental flags, the same resolved label ID in both add and remove (case-insensitive), and explicit--teammoves combined with incremental flags (label names resolve against the destination team, which would make source-team labels silently unresolvable).Notes from live QA against a scratch issue: add preserves existing labels, remove detaches per-issue while the label survives team-wide, and removing a label the issue doesn't have is rejected by Linear's API ("Label is not on issue ") — surfaced as-is rather than papered over.
Deferred as follow-ups:
--clear-labels,label rename(team-wide; doesn't solve per-issue detach), and the same replace-only asymmetry on project labels/members/teams, subscribers, and attachment removal.Fixes #258