GitHub CLI label list search command returning unusual matches

[gilzow]

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Created an issue in the CLI repo, but asking here as well.

I'm using the github cli inside of a workflow job. Specifically, using the cli to search for a label and if the label doesn't exist, create it.

Specific gh command is

gh label list --search "prose" --json name -q '.[] | .name'

Up until about a week ago, this returned the correct label "markdown/prose". However, as of late last week, it started returning TWO labels, one of which makes no sense.

❯ gh label list --search "prose" --json name -q '.[] | .name'
markdown/prose
automated pr

According to the help for --search it searches both name and description, but the description for both matches is empty.

❯ gh version
gh version 2.82.0 (2025-10-15)

I can replicate this behavior by misspelling the search phrase, or by trying other search strings that should match a given number of labels but the actual results contains results that do not contain the search phrase.

Anyone have any ideas what is going on or what I'm missing?

[gilzow]

There is no gh label view

Usage:  gh label <command> [flags]

Available commands:
  clone
  create
  delete
  edit
  list

[notnull-dev]

Typical "ChatGPT" copy-paste response, even though the use of generative AI to provide answers is supposedly prohibited in the Community Discussions because it violates its code of conduct. Well..

[gilzow]

i saw the response and thought "when did they add a label view command?" Had to go back and look to make sure I hadn't missed its inclusion.

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[barqimfathi-xyz]

Hello @gilzow ,
Quick check before we debug your CLI issue:

Quiz: If a repository has 5 labels, and two contain the substring “bug”, what will gh label list --search bug return? 🤔

Hint: The CLI performs substring matching.
Answering this helps clarify whether the behavior is expected or a bug.