---
title: Stack Labels
description: Organize your stacks with colored labels for quick filtering, grouping, and bulk actions.
---

<Note>
  Stack Labels require a Sencho **Skipper** or **Admiral** license.
</Note>

Stack Labels let you tag your Docker Compose stacks with custom colored labels like `production`, `staging`, or `media-server`. Once labeled, you can filter your stack list, identify stacks at a glance, and run bulk actions on entire groups.

<Frame>
  <img src="/images/stack-labels/sidebar-with-label-dots.png" alt="Sidebar showing stacks with colored label dots" />
</Frame>

## Creating labels

### From Settings

1. Open **Settings → Labels**
2. Click **New Label**
3. Enter a name and pick a color
4. Click **Create**

<Frame>
  <img src="/images/stack-labels/settings-labels-fixed.png" alt="Settings Labels section with label management" />
</Frame>

### From the stack context menu

1. Right-click any stack in the sidebar (or click the three-dot menu)
2. Hover over **Labels**
3. Click **Manage labels...** at the bottom of the sub-menu
4. Create your label from the Settings panel that opens

## Assigning labels to stacks

1. Right-click a stack in the sidebar (or click the three-dot menu)
2. Hover over **Labels** to open the sub-menu
3. Click a label to toggle it on or off

<Frame>
  <img src="/images/stack-labels/context-menu-label-submenu-open.png" alt="Right-click context menu with Labels sub-menu" />
</Frame>

A stack can have multiple labels. Changes save immediately.

## Filtering by label

### Sidebar

When you have labels, a pill bar appears between the search box and the stack list. Click a label pill to filter — only stacks with that label are shown. Click multiple pills to see stacks matching **any** of the selected labels. Click an active pill again to deselect it.

<Frame>
  <img src="/images/stack-labels/sidebar-filtered-by-label.png" alt="Sidebar filtered by label showing only matching stacks" />
</Frame>

### Fleet View

Label filter pills appear in the Fleet View toolbar alongside the existing Status and Type filters. Selecting a label filters to nodes that contain stacks with that label.

## Bulk actions

Right-click a label pill in the sidebar to access bulk actions:

| Action | Effect |
|--------|--------|
| **Deploy all** | Runs deploy on every stack with that label |
| **Stop all** | Stops every stack with that label |
| **Restart all** | Restarts every stack with that label |

A confirmation dialog shows which stacks will be affected before executing.

## Managing labels

Open **Settings → Labels** to view, edit, and delete your labels.

- **Edit**: Change a label's name or color
- **Delete**: Removes the label and unassigns it from all stacks

## Troubleshooting

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Labels aren't visible in the sidebar">
    Labels require a **Skipper** or **Admiral** license. Verify your license tier in **Settings → License**. Labels also only appear when at least one label has been created.
  </Accordion>
  <Accordion title="Labels disappeared after a downgrade">
    If you downgrade from Skipper/Admiral to Community, the label UI is hidden but your data is preserved. Upgrading again will restore all labels and assignments.
  </Accordion>
  <Accordion title="Bulk action failed for some stacks">
    If a stack was deleted from disk but still had a label assignment, it will be skipped during bulk actions. The results toast will indicate how many stacks failed. Remove orphaned assignments by re-opening **Settings → Labels**.
  </Accordion>
  <Accordion title="Duplicate label name error">
    Label names must be unique per node. If you see a &ldquo;label with that name already exists&rdquo; error, choose a different name or edit the existing label.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>