---
description: Issue labels used in blocky and blockly-samples.
title: Issue labels
image: images/blockly_banner.png
---

# Issue labels

Labels are a cool feature of GitHub that allow you to filter issues and pull
requests. They help you find something fun to work on that fits with your level
of experience.

For our repositories, adding new labels to issues is handled exclusively by the
core Blockly team, to make sure that things don't end up in the wrong spot.

:::note
For more information about using labels, see
[Filtering issues and pull requests](https://help.github.com/en/github/managing-your-work-on-github/filtering-issues-and-pull-requests-by-labels).
:::

### Size

Some issues are bite-sized and beautiful, while others could take weeks to
defeat. These labels help you tell how much work an issue will probably take.

- **[Good first issue](https://github.com/RaspberryPiFoundation/blockly-samples/labels/good%20first%20issue):**
  These issues are great for people who are new to the repository. They should
  take less than half a day's work and require limited familiarity with the
  code base. You can start work on these issues immediately, without approval
  from the team.

### Jurisdiction

Working on a widely-used repo can be a sensitive process, and some issues can be
more sensitive than others. These labels help you tell which issues are open for
contribution, and which issues to steer clear of.

- **[Help wanted](https://github.com/RaspberryPiFoundation/blockly-samples/labels/help%20wanted):**
  These issues are reserved for contributors. Often they are features the core
  team think would be useful, but don't have time to implement. They may need
  either discussion or implementation, so check the status label to see what
  work is needed. This is a good place to find fun creative projects!
- **[Internal](https://github.com/RaspberryPiFoundation/blockly-samples/labels/internal):**
  These issues are reserved for members of the core team. Often they are
  sensitive or complex bugs that need special discussion. It's best to steer
  clear of these because the situation around them could change rapidly!
- **[Neither](https://github.com/RaspberryPiFoundation/blockly-samples/issues?q=is%3Aissue+is%3Aopen+-label%3A%22help+wanted%22+-label%3A%22internal%22):**
  Issues that have neither label can be fixed by contributors _and_ members of
  the core team. If you see an unlabeled issue that seems interesting to you,
  go ahead and take it!

### Status

Certain issues (particularly feature requests) go through a few different stages
before they can be considered "closed". These labels tell you what stage an
issue is currently in, so you can know what needs to be done next.

- **[Discussion](https://github.com/RaspberryPiFoundation/blockly-samples/labels/status%3A%20discussion):**
  These issues are in the
  [discussion phase](/guides/contribute/samples/add_a_plugin#discussion),
  which means there are still questions that need to be answered before
  implementation. If you have any thoughts related to this issue, feel free to
  leave a comment! We're always looking for more input.
- **[Implementation](https://github.com/RaspberryPiFoundation/blockly-samples/labels/status%3A%20implementation):**
  These issues have had enough discussion that they are clearly defined, and
  have moved into the [implementation phase](/guides/contribute/samples/add_a_plugin#implementation).
  They are either waiting for implementation, or already being implemented. If
  you're interested in working on one of these, read through the whole issue
  and then leave a comment saying which part you want to work on, then go
  ahead and dive in!
- **[Neither](https://github.com/RaspberryPiFoundation/blockly-samples/issues?q=is%3Aissue+is%3Aopen+-label%3A%22status%3A+discussion%22+-label%3A%22status%3A+implementation%22+):**
  Issues that have neither label could be in either state. If you have an
  opinion about how the issue should be implemented, go ahead and leave a
  comment! Alternatively if you're interested in _working_ on the issue, it is
  best to leave a comment asking if it is ready to be implemented.

### Type

Different issues require different responses. Some only require editing a few
lines of code, while others need lots of design and discussion. These labels
tell you what type of action an issue will need.

- **[Bug](https://github.com/RaspberryPiFoundation/blockly-samples/labels/type%3A%20bug):**
  These issues document a problem with the codebase. They often take some
  debugging to diagnose what's causing the problem, but some can be fixed in a
  wink. If you like digging deep to learn how the code ticks, these will be
  great issues for you. You can help either by fixing the bug or by digging to
  understand the issue and writing a clear explanation of the root cause.
- **[Feature request](https://github.com/RaspberryPiFoundation/blockly-samples/labels/type%3A%20feature%20request):**
  These issues document a feature that someone would like to have added. This
  can apply to the repository as a whole, or to an individual project. If you
  like fleshing out design ideas and adding new functionality, these could be
  the perfect issues for you.
- **[Question](https://github.com/RaspberryPiFoundation/blockly-samples/labels/type%3A%20question):**
  These issues document a question someone has about the codebase. Generally
  these questions are redirected to the
  [developer forum](https://groups.google.com/g/blockly), but if
  you see a question you feel you could help with, feel free to jump in and
  respond.

### Category

This repository contains a few different kinds of projects, with a few different
kinds of target audiences. If you are passionate about tutorials, or love
working on plugins, these labels can help you find issues you're interested in.

- **[Codelab](https://github.com/RaspberryPiFoundation/blockly/labels/category%3A%20codelab):**
  These issues relate to Blockly
  [codelabs](/guides/contribute/core/write_a_codelab/),
  a suite of interactive tutorials.
- **[Example](https://github.com/RaspberryPiFoundation/blockly-samples/labels/category%3A%20example):**
  These issues relate to Blockly
  [examples](/guides/contribute/samples/repository_structure#examples),
  a set of self-contained demos showcasing how to include and extend Blockly.
- **[Plugin](https://github.com/RaspberryPiFoundation/blockly-samples/labels/category%3A%20plugin):**
  These issues relate to Blockly
  [plugins](/guides/contribute/samples/repository_structure#plugins),
  a collection of extensions that add functionality Blockly.

### Project

And if you want to get even more fine-grained there are also tags for individual
projects. These are usually created for plugins, which tend to have more issues
related to them, but they can also be created for codelabs and examples. If you
have a particular project you are interested in, these labels can help you find
issues related to that project.

To see if there is a label for the project you are interested in, see the full list of labels:

- [`blockly` repository labels](https://github.com/RaspberryPiFoundation/blockly/labels)
- [`blockly-samples` repository labels](https://github.com/RaspberryPiFoundation/blockly-samples/labels)

### Other

As with any collection of things, there are a few odd-balls you should also know
about. These labels may not be as helpful when you're looking for an issue to
work on, but they can still be informative.

- **[Triage](https://github.com/RaspberryPiFoundation/blockly-samples/labels/triage):** These
  issues have yet to be properly labeled by the core team. Issues with this
  label may already include another simple label like
  [bug](https://github.com/RaspberryPiFoundation/blockly-samples/labels/type%3A%20bug) or
  [feature request](https://github.com/RaspberryPiFoundation/blockly-samples/labels/type%3A%20feature%20request),
  but it is likely that more labels will be added soon.
- **[Duplicate](https://github.com/RaspberryPiFoundation/blockly-samples/labels/duplicate):**
  These issues document a problem, request, or question that is already
  covered by another issue. This label tells you that you should not reply to
  this issue, but instead reply to the original issue.
