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P4 CLI Documentation | 2025.2

# p4 label

Create or edit a label specification and its view.

## Syntax

    p4 [g-opts] label [-f -g] [-t template] labelname
    p4 [g-opts] label -d [-f -g] labelname
    p4 [g-opts] label -o [-t template] labelname
    p4 [g-opts] label -i [-f -g]

Syntax and naming conventions

## Description

Use `p4 label` to create a new label specification or edit an existing label specification. A `labelname` is required.

Running `p4 label` allows you to configure the mapping that controls the set of files that are allowed to be included in the label. After configuring the label, use `p4 labelsync` or `p4 tag` to tag files with the label.

Labels can be either automatic or static. Automatic labels refer to the revisions provided in the `View` and `Revision` fields. Static labels refer only to those specific revisions tagged by the label by the `p4 labelsync` or `p4 tag` commands.

Only the `Owner` of an `unlocked` label can use `p4 labelsync` or `p4 tag` to tag files with that label. The owner of a group can be a single user or a group.

A branch, depot, label, and workspace cannot share the same name.

### Automatic labels

Automatic labels refer to the revisions provided in the `View` and `Revision` fields of the label specification. To create an automatic label, fill in the `Revision` field of the `p4 label` spec with a revision specifier. When you sync a workspace to an automatic label, the contents of the `Revision` field are applied to every file in the `View` field.

Example: Using an automatic label as an alias for a changelist number

Bruno is running a nightly build process, and has successfully built a product as of changelist 1234. Rather than having to remember the specific changelist for every night’s build, he types `p4 label nightly20111201` and uses the label’s `Revision` field to automatically tag all files as of changelist 1234 with the `nightly20111201` label:

Copy

    Label:    nightly20111201
    Owner:    bruno
    Description:
        Nightly build process.
    Options:    unlocked noautoreload
    View:
        //depot/...
    Revision:
        @1234

Advantage to this approach: facilitates scripting, does not use much space in label table, and provides a way to refer to a nightly build without remembering which changelist number was associated with the night’s build process.

Example: Referring specifically to the set of files submitted in a single changelist

A bug was fixed by means of changelist 1238, and requires a patch label that refers to only those files associated with the fix. Bruno types `p4 label patch20111201` and uses the label’s `Revision` field to automatically tag only those files submitted in changelist 1238 with the `patch20111201` label:

Copy

    Label:    patch20111201
    Owner:    bruno
    Description:
        Patch to 2011/12/01 nightly build.
    Options:    unlocked noautoreload
    View:
        ## comment line
        //depot/...  ## comment appended
    Revision:
        @1238,1238

This automatic label refers only to those files submitted in changelist 1238.

Example: Referring to the first revision of every file over multiple changelists

You can use revision specifiers other than changelist specifiers. In this example, Bruno specifies to the first revision (`#1`) of every file in a branch. Depending on how the branch was populated, these files could have been created through multiple changelists over a long period of time:

Copy

    Label:  first2.2
    Owner:  bruno
    Description:
        The first revision in the 2.2 branch
    Options:    unlocked noautoreload
    View:
        //JamCode/release/jam/2.2/src/...
    Revision:
        "#1"

Because P4 Server forms use the `#` character as a comment indicator, Bruno has placed quotation marks around the `#` to ensure that it is parsed as a revision specifier.

## Form fields

Field Name | Type | Description
--- | --- | ---
`Label:` | Read-only | The label name as provided in the invoking command. Be aware of the Limitations on characters in filenames and entities.
`Owner:` | Writable, optional | By default, the owner is the user who created the label. The specified owner does not have to be a P4 Server user. You might want to use an arbitrary name if the owner does not yet exist, or if you have deleted the owner and need a placeholder until you can assign the spec to a new owner.
`Update:` | Read-only | The date the label specification was last modified.
`Access:` | Read-only | The date and time the label was last accessed, either by running `p4 labelsync` on the label, or by otherwise referring to a file with the label revision specifier `@`label``. (Note: Reloading a label with `p4 reload` does not affect the access time.)
`Description:` | Writable, optional | An optional description of the label’s purpose.
`Options:` | Writable | Options to control behavior and storage location of labels locked or `unlocked`. If the label is `locked`, the list of files tagged with the label cannot be changed with `p4 labelsync`. autoreload or `noautoreload`. For static labels, if `noautoreload` is set, the label is stored in `db.label`, and if `autoreload` is set, it is stored in the unload depot. This option is ignored for automatic labels. Storing labels in the unload depot can improve performance on sites that make extremely heavy use of labels. To make the unload depot default to compressed mode, set the configurable to lbr.unloaddepot.compress to `1`.
`Revision:` | Writable | An optional revision specification for an automatic label. If you use the `#` character to specify a revision number, you must use quotes around it in order to ensure that the `#` is parsed as a revision specifier, and not as a comment field in the form.
`View:` | Writable | A list of depot files that can be tagged with this label. No files are actually tagged until `p4 labelsync` is invoked. Unlike client views or branch views, which map one set of files to another, label views consist of a simple list of depot files. To learn more, see the topic that explains Views. Comments are preceded by `##` as shown in this example:
    View:
            ## comment line
            //depot/...  ## comment appended
`ServerID:` | Writable, optional | If set, restricts usage of the label to the named server. If unset, this label can be used on any server.

## Options

Option | Description
--- | ---
`-d` [`-f`] | Delete the named label if it’s `unlocked`. The `-f` option forces the deletion even if the label is `locked`. (Deleting a `locked` label requires `admin` or `super` access.)
`-f` | Allow the `Update` field’s date to be set. Can be used with either the `-i` option or the `-t` option for the same purpose.
`-g` | In multi-server environments, use the `-g` option to control whether the label is local to an Edge server, or globally available from the Commit server. The -g flag should be used on an edge server to update a global label. In this case, the client must have a global client view. To learn more, see "Setting global client views" under Client workspaces and client views. Global labels can be updated from edge servers using either p4 tag -g or p4 labelsync -g
`-i` | Read the label definition from standard input without invoking the editor.
`-o` | Write the label definition to standard output without invoking the editor.
`-t template` | Copy label `template`'s view and options into the `View:` and `Options` fields of this label. You can specify a default label template using the `template.label` configure variable. If you do so, you do not have to specify this option.
`g-opts` | See Global options.

## Usage notes

Can File Arguments Use Revision Specifier? | Can File Arguments Use Revision Range? | Minimal Access Level Required
--- | --- | ---
N/A | N/A | `open`, but only the owner of a label can update which files are tagged with the label.

- To create an automatic label, fill in the `Revision` field of the `p4 label` form with a revision specifier. When you sync a workspace to an automatic label, the contents of the `Revision` field are applied to every file in the `View` field.

- Local Label | Global Label
  --- | ---
  `rpl.labels.global` is unset, which is 0 | `rpl.labels.global` set to 1
  by default, labels are local to your edge server | by default, labels are global
  `-g` option provides access to global labels on the commit server | `-g` option allows the updating of local labels If a label exists on an edge server before rpl.labels.global is set, and you want that label to be available on both the edge server and the commit server, unloaded the label from the edge server and reload it on the commit server

## Examples

`p4 files @labelname` | List the file revisions tagged by `labelname`.

## Related commands

To synchronize a label with the client workspace. | p4 labelsync
To list all labels known to the system | p4 labels
To create a label and tag files with the label | p4 tag

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