Add labels field and remove-label option to label_command trigger

actions/setup/js/remove_trigger_label.cjs

@@ -9,9 +9,13 @@ const { ERR_API, ERR_CONFIG } = require("./error_codes.cjs");
  *
  * Supported events: issues (labeled), pull_request (labeled), discussion (labeled).
  * For workflow_dispatch, the step emits an empty label_name output and exits without error.
+ *
+ * When GH_AW_REMOVE_LABEL is set to "false", the label is NOT removed but the label_name
+ * output is still set. This is useful when you want to keep the label on the item.
  */
 async function main() {
   const labelNamesJSON = process.env.GH_AW_LABEL_NAMES;
+  const removeLabelEnv = process.env.GH_AW_REMOVE_LABEL;
 
   const { getErrorMessage } = require("./error_helpers.cjs");
 
@@ -32,6 +36,9 @@ async function main() {
     return;
   }
 
+  // When GH_AW_REMOVE_LABEL is "false", skip label removal but still output the label name.
+  const shouldRemoveLabel = removeLabelEnv !== "false";
+
   const eventName = context.eventName;
 
   // For workflow_dispatch and other non-labeled events, nothing to remove.
@@ -56,6 +63,12 @@ async function main() {
     return;
   }
 
+  if (!shouldRemoveLabel) {
+    core.info(`Label removal disabled (remove-label: false) – keeping label '${triggerLabel}' on the item.`);
+    core.setOutput("label_name", triggerLabel);
+    return;
+  }
+
   core.info(`Removing trigger label '${triggerLabel}' (event: ${eventName})`);
 
   const owner = context.repo?.owner;

pkg/parser/schemas/main_workflow_schema.json

@@ -354,6 +354,27 @@
                       ],
                       "description": "Alternative to 'name': label name(s) that trigger the workflow."
                     },
+                    "labels": {
+                      "oneOf": [
+                        {
+                          "type": "string",
+                          "minLength": 1,
+                          "description": "Single label name."
+                        },
+                        {
+                          "type": "array",
+                          "minItems": 1,
+                          "description": "Array of label names \u2014 any of these labels will trigger the workflow.",
+                          "items": {
+                            "type": "string",
+                            "minLength": 1,
+                            "description": "A label name"
+                          },
+                          "maxItems": 25
+                        }
+                      ],
+                      "description": "Label name(s) that trigger the workflow. Preferred alternative to 'name'/'names'."
+                    },
                     "events": {
                       "description": "Item types where the label-command trigger should be active. Default is all supported types: issues, pull_request, discussion.",
                       "oneOf": [
@@ -374,6 +395,10 @@
                           "maxItems": 3
                         }
                       ]
+                    },
+                    "remove-label": {
+                      "type": "boolean",
+                      "description": "Whether to remove the triggering label when the workflow starts. Default is true. Set to false to keep the label on the item and skip the label removal step (also removes the need for issues:write or discussions:write permissions)."
                     }
                   },
                   "additionalProperties": false

pkg/workflow/compiler_activation_job.go

@@ -309,6 +309,8 @@ func (c *Compiler) buildActivationJob(data *WorkflowData, preActivationJobCreate
 	// Add label removal step and label_command output for label-command workflows.
 	// When a label-command trigger fires, the triggering label is immediately removed
 	// so that the same label can be applied again to trigger the workflow in the future.
+	// When remove-label is false, the step still runs to identify and output the label name
+	// but skips the actual removal operation.
 	if len(data.LabelCommand) > 0 {
 		// The removal step only makes sense for actual "labeled" events; for
 		// workflow_dispatch we skip it silently via the env-based label check.
@@ -322,6 +324,12 @@ func (c *Compiler) buildActivationJob(data *WorkflowData, preActivationJobCreate
 			return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to marshal label-command names: %w", err)
 		}
 		steps = append(steps, fmt.Sprintf("          GH_AW_LABEL_NAMES: '%s'\n", string(labelNamesJSON)))
+		// Pass whether to remove the label (default true; false skips removal but still outputs label name)
+		removeLabelStr := "true"
+		if !data.LabelCommandRemoveLabel {
+			removeLabelStr = "false"
+		}
+		steps = append(steps, fmt.Sprintf("          GH_AW_REMOVE_LABEL: '%s'\n", removeLabelStr))
 		steps = append(steps, "        with:\n")
 		// Use GitHub App or custom token if configured (avoids needing elevated GITHUB_TOKEN permissions)
 		labelToken := c.resolveActivationToken(data)
@@ -502,7 +510,8 @@ func (c *Compiler) buildActivationJob(data *WorkflowData, preActivationJobCreate
 	// - discussion events need discussions:write
 	// When a github-app token is configured, the GITHUB_TOKEN permissions are irrelevant
 	// for the label removal step (it uses the app token instead), so we skip them.
-	if hasLabelCommand && data.ActivationGitHubApp == nil {
+	// When remove-label is false, the step does not remove labels so no write permissions are needed.
+	if hasLabelCommand && data.ActivationGitHubApp == nil && data.LabelCommandRemoveLabel {
 		if sliceutil.Contains(filteredLabelEvents, "issues") || sliceutil.Contains(filteredLabelEvents, "pull_request") {
 			permsMap[PermissionIssues] = PermissionWrite
 		}

pkg/workflow/compiler_orchestrator_workflow.go

@@ -724,7 +724,7 @@ func (c *Compiler) extractAdditionalConfigurations(
 
 	// Extract and process mcp-scripts and safe-outputs
 	workflowData.Command, workflowData.CommandEvents = c.extractCommandConfig(frontmatter)
-	workflowData.LabelCommand, workflowData.LabelCommandEvents = c.extractLabelCommandConfig(frontmatter)
+	workflowData.LabelCommand, workflowData.LabelCommandEvents, workflowData.LabelCommandRemoveLabel = c.extractLabelCommandConfig(frontmatter)
 	workflowData.Jobs = c.extractJobsFromFrontmatter(frontmatter)
 
 	// Merge jobs from imported YAML workflows

pkg/workflow/compiler_types.go

@@ -390,6 +390,7 @@ type WorkflowData struct {
 	LabelCommand                []string             // for label-command trigger support - label names that act as commands
 	LabelCommandEvents          []string             // events where label-command should be active (nil = all: issues, pull_request, discussion)
 	LabelCommandOtherEvents     map[string]any       // for merging label-command with other events
+	LabelCommandRemoveLabel     bool                 // whether to remove the triggering label when the workflow starts (default: true)
 	AIReaction                  string               // AI reaction type like "eyes", "heart", etc.
 	StatusComment               *bool                // whether to post status comments (default: true when ai-reaction is set, false otherwise)
 	ActivationGitHubToken       string               // custom github token from on.github-token for reactions/comments

pkg/workflow/frontmatter_extraction_yaml.go

@@ -743,37 +743,39 @@ func (c *Compiler) extractCommandConfig(frontmatter map[string]any) (commandName
 }
 
 // extractLabelCommandConfig extracts the label-command configuration from frontmatter
-// including label name(s) and the events field.
+// including label name(s), the events field, and the remove-label option.
 // It reads on.label_command which can be:
 //   - a string: label name directly (e.g. label_command: "deploy")
-//   - a map with "name" or "names" and optional "events" fields
+//   - a map with "name", "names", or "labels" and optional "events" and "remove-label" fields
 //
-// Returns (labelNames, labelEvents) where labelEvents is nil for default (all events).
-func (c *Compiler) extractLabelCommandConfig(frontmatter map[string]any) (labelNames []string, labelEvents []string) {
+// Returns (labelNames, labelEvents, removeLabelEnabled) where labelEvents is nil for default
+// (all events) and removeLabelEnabled defaults to true.
+func (c *Compiler) extractLabelCommandConfig(frontmatter map[string]any) (labelNames []string, labelEvents []string, removeLabelEnabled bool) {
 	frontmatterLog.Print("Extracting label-command configuration from frontmatter")
 	onValue, exists := frontmatter["on"]
 	if !exists {
-		return nil, nil
+		return nil, nil, true
 	}
 	onMap, ok := onValue.(map[string]any)
 	if !ok {
-		return nil, nil
+		return nil, nil, true
 	}
 	labelCommandValue, hasLabelCommand := onMap["label_command"]
 	if !hasLabelCommand {
-		return nil, nil
+		return nil, nil, true
 	}
 
 	// Simple string form: label_command: "my-label"
 	if nameStr, ok := labelCommandValue.(string); ok {
 		frontmatterLog.Printf("Extracted label-command name (shorthand): %s", nameStr)
-		return []string{nameStr}, nil
+		return []string{nameStr}, nil, true
 	}
 
-	// Map form: label_command: {name: "...", names: [...], events: [...]}
+	// Map form: label_command: {name: "...", names: [...], labels: [...], events: [...], remove-label: bool}
 	if lcMap, ok := labelCommandValue.(map[string]any); ok {
 		var names []string
 		var events []string
+		removeLabel := true
 
 		if nameVal, hasName := lcMap["name"]; hasName {
 			if nameStr, ok := nameVal.(string); ok {
@@ -797,16 +799,33 @@ func (c *Compiler) extractLabelCommandConfig(frontmatter map[string]any) (labelN
 				names = append(names, namesStr)
 			}
 		}
+		if labelsVal, hasLabels := lcMap["labels"]; hasLabels {
+			if labelsArray, ok := labelsVal.([]any); ok {
+				for _, item := range labelsArray {
+					if s, ok := item.(string); ok {
+						names = append(names, s)
+					}
+				}
+			} else if labelsStr, ok := labelsVal.(string); ok {
+				names = append(names, labelsStr)
+			}
+		}
 
 		if eventsVal, hasEvents := lcMap["events"]; hasEvents {
 			events = ParseCommandEvents(eventsVal)
 		}
 
-		frontmatterLog.Printf("Extracted label-command config: names=%v, events=%v", names, events)
-		return names, events
+		if removeLabelVal, hasRemoveLabel := lcMap["remove-label"]; hasRemoveLabel {
+			if removeLabelBool, ok := removeLabelVal.(bool); ok {
+				removeLabel = removeLabelBool
+			}
+		}
+
+		frontmatterLog.Printf("Extracted label-command config: names=%v, events=%v, removeLabel=%v", names, events, removeLabel)
+		return names, events, removeLabel
 	}
 
-	return nil, nil
+	return nil, nil, true
 }
 
 // isGitHubAppNestedField returns true if the trimmed YAML line represents a known