Error when removing the label: "Label does not exist"

[andig]

Description:
Bot is unable to remove the self-created stale label

Action version:
v9

Platform:

• Ubuntu
• macOS
• Windows

Runner type:

• Hosted
• Self-hosted

Repro steps:
Processing this issue evcc-io/evcc#14377 the bot has failed to remove it's own label in https://github.com/evcc-io/evcc/actions/runs/9724013582/job/26839788852.

Expected behavior:
"Stale" label removed.

Actual behavior:
From the log:

[#14377] Issue #14377
  [#14377] Found this issue last updated at: 2024-06-29T11:59:32Z
  [#14377] The option only-labels (​[https://github.com/actions/stale#only-labels​)](https://github.com/actions/stale#only-labels%E2%80%8B)) was not specified
  [#14377] └── Continuing the process for this issue
  [#14377] Days before issue stale: 7
  [#14377] The issue is not closed nor locked. Trying to remove the close label...
  [#14377] ├── The close-issue-label (​[https://github.com/actions/stale#close-issue-label​)](https://github.com/actions/stale#close-issue-label%E2%80%8B)) option was not set
  [#14377] └── Skipping the removal of the close label
  [#14377] This issue includes a stale label
  [#14377] The option any-of-labels (​[https://github.com/actions/stale#any-of-labels​)](https://github.com/actions/stale#any-of-labels%E2%80%8B)) was not specified
  [#14377] └── Continuing the process for this issue
  [#14377] This issue has no milestone
  [#14377] └── Skip the milestones checks
  [#14377] The option exempt-all-assignees (​[https://github.com/actions/stale#exempt-all-assignees​)](https://github.com/actions/stale#exempt-all-assignees%E2%80%8B)) is disabled. Only some specific assignees on this issue will skip the stale process
  [#14377] ├── The option exempt-issue-assignees (​[https://github.com/actions/stale#exempt-issue-assignees​)](https://github.com/actions/stale#exempt-issue-assignees%E2%80%8B)) is disabled. No specific assignee can skip the stale process for this issue
  [#14377] ├── The option exempt-assignees (​[https://github.com/actions/stale#exempt-assignees​)](https://github.com/actions/stale#exempt-assignees%E2%80%8B)) is disabled. No specific assignee can skip the stale process for this issue
  [#14377] ├── No assignee option was specified to skip the stale process for this issue
  [#14377] └── Skip the assignees checks
  [#14377] This issue is already stale
  [#14377] Checking for label on this issue
  [#14377] Issue marked stale on: 2024-06-29T11:54:55Z
  [#14377] Checking for comments on issue since: 2024-06-29T11:54:55Z
  [#14377] Comments that are not the stale comment or another bot: 1
  [#14377] Issue has been commented on: true
  [#14377] Days before issue close: 5
  [#14377] The option remove-stale-when-updated (​[https://github.com/actions/stale#remove-stale-when-updated​)](https://github.com/actions/stale#remove-stale-when-updated%E2%80%8B)) is: true
  [#14377] The stale label should not be removed
  [#14377] Issue has been updated since it was marked stale: true
  [#14377] Remove the stale label since the issue has been updated and the workflow should remove the stale label when updated
  [#14377] The issue is no longer stale. Removing the stale label...
  [#14377] Removing the label "Stale" from this issue...
  Error: [#14377] Error when removing the label: "Label does not exist"
  [#14377] Skipping the process since the issue is now un-stale
  [#14377] 3 operations consumed for this issue

Bot config: https://github.com/evcc-io/evcc/blob/b3a6197a2599a4a60f59392502b139877726f6d5/.github/workflows/stale.yaml

Note there are more examples where removing labels does not work, see https://github.com/evcc-io/evcc/actions/runs/9724165084

I don't think it's a permissions issue since permissions are granted through the token and, more specifically, the bot is able to create the labels.

[HarithaVattikuti]

Hello @andig
Thank you for creating this issue. We will investigate it and get back to you as soon as we have some feedback.

[andig]

This is still an issue. Anything I can contribute to get this diagnosed?

[suyashgaonkar]

Hi @andig , we investigated the issue from the provided details and see no issue with @actions/stale as it able to remove self-created labels with workflow file you provided. Please refer to the screenshot below and following run.
We suggest you to re-check the values passed for exempt-issue-labels and exempt-pr-labels as that might cause the issue you are looking for to be excluded from the workflow run by actions/stale, also we observe that the necessary permissions are missing from the worflow that you share.
Please add the following permissions.

 permissions:
      issues: write
      pull-requests: write"

[andig]

@suyashgaonkar this feels weird. How can the bot be missing write permissions if it is able write labels?

[andig]

@suyashgaonkar exempt labels are in https://github.com/evcc-io/evcc/blob/b3a6197a2599a4a60f59392502b139877726f6d5/.github/workflows/stale.yaml#L17-L18. The stale label is part of that.

[andig]

Given this issue is 9 months old, maybe it has been fixed.