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Dependabot docs disagree on when the ecosystem label is added, and on its name (github-actions vs github_actions) #46230

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@djcesar

Code of Conduct

What article on docs.github.com is affected?

What part(s) of the article would you like to see updated?

The two articles describe Dependabot's default labels in ways that contradict each other:

  1. When the ecosystem label is added. The options reference (labels → "Dependabot default behavior") says the ecosystem label is added only when more than one package manager is defined. The customizing article (the default-labels reusable) says both the dependencies label and the ecosystem label are added to all pull requests, single-ecosystem updates included. Both can't be right; the observed behavior matches the second (see below).

  2. The name of the GitHub Actions ecosystem label. The reusable uses github-actions as an example, but the label Dependabot actually creates and applies is github_actions, with an underscore.

Expected outcome: both articles state the same rule for the ecosystem label, and the GitHub Actions example uses the label name Dependabot really applies.

Additional information

Reproduced in a private repository whose dependabot.yml has a single entry (package-ecosystem: github-actions, no labels option) and that had neither label beforehand. Dependabot's first version-update pull request created both labels and applied them: the pull request's events show dependabot[bot] adding dependencies and github_actions. The github_actions label it created had the description "Pull requests that update GitHub Actions code".

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  1. added
    triageDo not begin working on this issue until triaged by the team
    on Oct 7, 2026
  2. mchammer01 commented on Oct 12, 2026

    @mchammer01
    Contributor

    @djcesar 👋🏻 - thanks for the detailed repro, that made this easy to verify 🙏 ✨

    You're right on both points:

    1. The ecosystem label is always added, not just when there's more than one package manager. The options reference page has the wrong default behavior description here, the default-labels reusable is correct.
    2. The label is  github_actions with an underscore, your repro output confirms it. The reusable's example needs updating.

    If anyone wants to pick this up, happy to review a PR that fixes the options reference page and the  github-actions example in the reusable 😊

  3. added
    help wantedAnyone is welcome to open a pull request to fix this issue
    on Oct 12, 2026
  4. removed
    triageDo not begin working on this issue until triaged by the team
    on Oct 12, 2026
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