sencho/docs/features/stack-labels.mdx

---
title: "Stack Labels"
description: "Per-node tags that group your stacks by purpose, surface them under collapsible headers in the sidebar, and unlock cross-stack bulk actions across the fleet."
---

A **Stack Label** is a per-node tag (name plus color) applied to any stack. A labeled stack groups under that label's header in the sidebar instead of the flat list, and Fleet View can filter the overview by tag. Admins also get two label-driven fleet actions: stop every stack labeled `prod` across every node, or add a label to stacks across nodes in one shot.

<img
  src="/images/stack-labels/sidebar-grouping.png"
  alt="Sidebar showing stacks grouped under four uppercase label headers (MEDIA 7, UTILITIES 4, NETWORK 3, DATABASE 1). Each group shows its stacks with a small colored dot on the trailing edge of each row."
/>

## What problem this solves

A flat sidebar of fifteen same-level stacks forces a scan of every name. With Stack Labels:

- **Stacks group by purpose, not by alphabet.** Each label becomes a collapsible section header, sorted by stack count, so the busy buckets (your media stack, your network stack) sit at the top and rarely-touched ones can be folded away.
- **A glance is enough.** Each row carries up to three colored dots on its trailing edge, so a stack tagged with two purposes (for example `prod` and `media`) shows both colors.
- **Bulk operations stop being copy-paste.** Stop every `prod` stack across the fleet from one card. Re-tag eight stacks at once when a service moves between concerns. No scripting, no per-stack menu hunt.

## Anatomy of a label

| Field | Rule |
|---|---|
| **Name** | 1 to 30 characters. Letters, digits, spaces, and hyphens only (`^[a-zA-Z0-9 -]+$`). Case-sensitive and unique per node. |
| **Color** | One of ten swatches: teal, blue, purple, rose, amber, green, orange, pink, cyan, slate. The color drives the dot on each row, the bullet on the group header, and the swatch in the Fleet View **Tags** filter. |
| **Scope** | Per-node. The same name can exist on two different nodes with two different colors; the fleet-stop card matches by name across nodes. |
| **Limit** | 50 labels per node. The **+ New label** button switches to **Limit reached** when you hit the cap. |

## Where labels appear

### Sidebar grouping

The stack list is split into one collapsible section per label. Group headers render in uppercase mono with a count chip on the right (`MEDIA 7`). Order is fixed: a `★ PINNED` group first if any stacks are pinned, then label groups sorted by stack count descending and by label name ascending, then `UNLABELED` last for stacks that carry no label. A stack tagged with two labels appears in both groups. Search and the **All / Up / Down / Updates** filter chips above the list operate on rows inside whichever groups are expanded.

Every row also carries up to three colored trailing dots that mirror the assigned labels. Beyond three, an additional `+N` counter appears next to the dots so the row never grows unbounded.

### Fleet View tags filter

The [Fleet View](/features/fleet-view) overview toolbar carries a **Filters** popover with a **Tags** multi-select. The dropdown lists every label that exists on any node in the fleet, with each entry rendered as a colored dot plus the label name. Selecting one or more tags filters the node cards to nodes that contain at least one stack with that label.

<img
  src="/images/stack-labels/fleet-tags-filter.png"
  alt="Fleet Overview Filters popover open. The popover shows four sections: Status, Type, Severity, and Tags. The Tags multi-select is expanded into a dropdown listing five labels (Database, Media, Network, Prod, Utilities), each prefixed by a small colored dot."
/>

A label that exists on only one of four nodes still appears in the dropdown; selecting it resolves to that single node.

## Working with labels

### Manage labels from Settings

**Settings · Organization · Labels** is the canonical place to create, rename, recolor, and delete labels. The masthead shows a `LABELS N/50` counter so you can see how close the active node is to the cap, and a per-row stack count tells you how many stacks currently carry each label.

<Note>
  The Labels panel requires the `labels` capability on the active node. If the active node does not advertise this capability, a lock card appears instead of the label list. Switching to a node that supports labels, or updating the node, resolves this.
</Note>

<img
  src="/images/stack-labels/settings-labels.png"
  alt="Settings page open on the Organization section with Labels selected in the sidebar. The main panel shows the heading Labels with a LABELS 5/50 stat in the top right. Five label rows are listed: Database (teal dot, 1 stack), Media (blue dot, 7 stacks), Network (amber dot, 3 stacks), Prod (amber dot, 0 stacks), Utilities (gray dot, 4 stacks). A cyan plus New label button sits in the top right."
/>

Hover any row to reveal a **Pencil** edit icon and a destructive **Trash** icon on the trailing edge. The edit dialog shares its chrome with the create dialog: the kicker reads `LABELS · NEW` for a new label or `LABELS · EDIT` when you opened it from the pencil, the body has a single `Label name` input plus the ten color swatches, and the footer has **Cancel** and **Create** (or **Save**) buttons.

<img
  src="/images/stack-labels/create-label-dialog.png"
  alt="Create label modal centered over the blurred Settings page. The kicker reads 'LABELS · NEW' and the title reads 'Create label'. The body has a focused Label name text input followed by a Color section showing ten circular swatches in two rows: teal, blue, purple, rose, amber, green, orange, pink, cyan in the first row, and slate alone in the second. The footer shows Cancel and Create buttons."
/>

Deleting a label opens a destructive confirmation with the kicker `LABELS · DELETE · IRREVERSIBLE` and the body line `Removes the label from every stack across the fleet.` There is no undo: the label row is dropped, every assignment row pointing to it is dropped, and the affected stacks fall back to whatever other labels they still carry. Stacks left with no remaining labels move into the `UNLABELED` group on the next sidebar refresh.

### Create and assign inline from the stack menu

Right-clicking a stack in the sidebar (or using the three-dot kebab menu on its row) opens the same context menu under the **organize** group. Click **Labels** to open a submenu listing every label that exists on the active node, with a checkmark next to each one currently assigned to this stack. Clicking a label toggles the assignment immediately. The two trailing items handle creation and full management:

- **New label** drops an inline form into the same submenu (text input with placeholder `Label name`, the ten color swatches, **Create** / **Cancel** buttons). Submitting creates the label on this node and assigns it to the stack in a single round trip. The entry hides itself once the node hits 50 labels.
- **Manage labels...** sends you to **Settings · Organization · Labels** for bulk renames, recolors, and deletions.

<img
  src="/images/stack-labels/context-menu-labels.png"
  alt="Stack context menu open on the Home page with the Labels submenu expanded. The submenu lists five labels: Database, Media (with a checkmark indicating it is assigned to this stack), Network, Prod, and Utilities, each with a colored dot. Below a separator are a plus New label entry and a Manage labels link."
/>

<img
  src="/images/stack-labels/inline-create-form.png"
  alt="The Labels submenu showing the inline create form after clicking New label. The submenu shows a focused Label name text input followed by a row of ten colored circles and a row of two buttons: Create (disabled while the name field is empty) and Cancel."
/>

A stack can carry multiple labels and will then appear under each label's group in the sidebar. There is no per-stack label cap; the only cap is the per-node total of 50.

## Fleet · Fleet Actions

<Note>
  The label-based Fleet Actions require the admin role. All other roles can view the cards but cannot execute them.
</Note>

Two cards in the **Fleet · Actions** tab use labels to drive cross-node operations. See [Fleet Actions](/features/fleet-actions) for the full reference.

<img
  src="/images/stack-labels/fleet-actions.png"
  alt="Fleet Actions tab. The left column shows the bottom portion of the Prune fleet-wide card and below it the Stop by label card (kicker FLEET · ACTIONS · STOP BY LABEL) with a DESTRUCTIVE badge, DRY RUN and STOP FLEET buttons, and a label name input field. The right column shows the Bulk label assign card with five label pills (Database, Media, Network, Prod, Utilities) and a scrollable stack checklist grouped by node."
/>

### Stop fleet by label

Type a stack label name into the input field. Sencho fans the request out to every node and stops every stack on that node assigned a stack label with the same name.

**Live preview.** As you type (debounced 500 ms), a preview lists which stacks on which nodes would be stopped. The **Stop fleet** button stays disabled until the preview resolves to at least one matching stack.

<img
  src="/images/stack-labels/fleet-stop-preview.png"
  alt="Stop by label card with 'Media' typed in the label input. The badge reads 'DESTRUCTIVE · 7 STACKS · 1 NODES'. Below the input a preview panel shows the label Media with the entry 'Local · 7 stacks · 1 node', and beneath that a list of six stacks: bazarr, plex, radarr, seerr, sonarr, tautulli, each tagged UP and LOCAL."
/>

**Dry run.** Click **Dry run** to simulate the operation without stopping any containers. The card shows the per-node breakdown labelled as a dry run and records the resolved target list. A completed dry run also unblocks the **Stop fleet** button when the live preview endpoint is unavailable.

This action targets stack labels only, never node labels. A confirmation modal shows the concrete list of nodes and stacks before the stop runs. A node with no matching label is noted as such; an unreachable node is reported but never blocks the stop on reachable nodes.

### Bulk label assign

Pick a label that exists anywhere in the fleet, then tick the stacks you want across one or more nodes (grouped by node, with a filter and per-node select-all).

When the chosen label name exists with different colors on different nodes, the card shows a notice: "This label uses different colors on different nodes. The shown color is applied where it is created." Color resolution order is: the local node's color first, then the most common color across nodes, then the first seen.

**Apply** adds the label to each chosen stack on its node, creating it there first with the chosen name and color if the node does not have it yet. Existing labels on the selected stacks are preserved. The confirmation modal summarizes the blast radius before you commit, and the result list breaks down per node, noting whether the label was created or reused.

## Limits and rules

- **50 labels per node.** Settings hides the **+ New label** button at the cap; the inline `New label` entry in the stack menu hides itself too.
- **Names are unique per node**, case-sensitive. The same name on two nodes is two separate label rows. Cross-node fleet stop and bulk assign both match by name across nodes; each node resolves the name to its own label (and bulk assign creates it there if missing).
- **Allowed name characters**: letters, digits, spaces, and hyphens. Empty names and names beyond 30 characters are rejected at the API.
- **Bulk-action concurrency**: only one label-driven bulk action can run on a single node at a time. A second concurrent attempt against the same node returns HTTP 429 and the operator sees an error toast; the in-flight action keeps running.
- **Permissions**: Every signed-in user can view labels: sidebar grouping, trailing dots on stack rows, the Settings panel (read-only), and the Fleet View Tags filter all work for every user. Creating, renaming, recoloring, and deleting labels requires the **admin** or **node-admin** role. The label-based Fleet Actions (Stop fleet by label, Bulk label assign) require the **admin** role.

## Troubleshooting

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Stacks are not grouped under labels in the sidebar">
    Grouping requires at least one stack to carry at least one label. With zero labels assigned the sidebar collapses into a single `UNLABELED` group, which is rendered as a flat list. Create a label from **Settings · Organization · Labels** or right-click any stack and use **Labels · New label**, assign it to a stack, and the grouped layout takes over.
  </Accordion>
  <Accordion title="The trailing colored dots are missing on stack rows">
    A stack row only renders trailing dots when at least one label is assigned to that stack. Right-click the row, open the **Labels** submenu, and tick at least one label; the dots appear on the next sidebar refresh. If a stack already has labels assigned but the dots still do not appear, check that the active node is the one that owns the assignments. Labels are per-node, so switching the node switcher to a different instance shows that instance's assignments only.
  </Accordion>
  <Accordion title="New label is missing from the stack context menu">
    The active node already has 50 labels (the per-node cap). Both the inline New label entry in the stack submenu and the + New label button in **Settings · Organization · Labels** hide themselves at the cap. Delete an unused label or rename an existing one to free a slot.
  </Accordion>
  <Accordion title="The Tags filter does not list a label I just created">
    The Tags filter aggregates labels across every node in the fleet by name. If the new label only exists on one node and that node was offline at the moment the page loaded, the dropdown may not include it. Refresh **Fleet · Overview** with the toolbar refresh button to repull node state.
  </Accordion>
  <Accordion title="The Settings Labels panel shows a lock card instead of the label list">
    The active node does not advertise the `labels` capability. Switch to a node that supports labels, or update the node to a version that includes this capability.
  </Accordion>
  <Accordion title="Stop fleet by label reports no matching stacks">
    Stack labels are per-node, so the fleet-stop matches by name across nodes. If the stack label you typed only exists on one node and you typed the wrong case (`prod` versus `Prod`), no node will match. The picker queries each reachable node for its own stack labels; node labels never appear there. A label on a node Sencho cannot currently reach will not be suggested, and the picker flags that the list may be incomplete. Pick from the suggestion list rather than typing freehand to avoid case mistakes.
  </Accordion>
  <Accordion title="Bulk label assign did not remove the old labels on my stacks">
    By design it never does: the card only adds the label you picked, leaving each stack's other labels intact. There is no clear or replace mode. To remove or swap a stack's labels, edit them from that stack's own **Labels** menu.
  </Accordion>
  <Accordion title="A label did not appear on a remote node after bulk assign">
    Confirm the node was reachable when you applied: an unreachable node is shown in the target list and reported in the per-node results rather than silently skipped. If the node was reachable, the label is created there by name with the chosen color and assigned; re-run to retry any node that failed.
  </Accordion>
  <Accordion title="The Fleet Actions cards return an error when I click Apply or Stop fleet">
    The label-based Fleet Actions require the admin role. Confirm the active user has the admin role under **Settings · Users**; all other roles see the cards but cannot execute them.
  </Accordion>
  <Accordion title="Deleting a label removed it from every stack">
    Working as designed. The destructive confirmation reads `Removes the label from every stack across the fleet.` The label row and every assignment row that pointed to it are dropped in a single transaction. There is no undo; recreate the label by name and color and reassign the affected stacks if you need to recover.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>