---
title: "Manage labels for alerts, incidents, and SLOs | Grafana Cloud documentation"
description: "Manage labels across your alerting and incident operations."
---

> For a curated documentation index, see [llms.txt](/llms.txt). For the complete documentation index, see [llms-full.txt](/llms-full.txt).

# Manage labels for alerts, incidents, and SLOs

Label management provides a central place in Grafana Cloud to create, edit, and archive the labels you use across your alerting and incident operations. Labels are key-value pairs that help you categorize, correlate, and route alerts, incidents, and SLOs.

Because labels are shared, a single label like `service_name:payments` can connect an alert rule to an escalation chain, an incident to a team, and an SLO to a service, without duplicating configuration.

## Before you begin

Before you start managing labels, ensure you have the following:

- A [Grafana Cloud](/docs/grafana-cloud/) account.
- A plan for your label taxonomy. Decide on consistent key names (for example, `service_name`, `team_name`, `severity`) and values before creating labels. Labels are shared across alerting, IRM, and SLOs, so a consistent naming convention helps your team categorize and filter resources effectively.

## About labels

Labels are key-value pairs (for example, `team_name:platform` or `severity:critical`) that you attach to alerts, incidents, and SLOs. You can use labels to:

- **Categorize resources:** Group alerts, incidents, and SLOs by service, team, environment, or other attributes.
- **Correlate related resources:** Link alerts, incidents, and SLOs using common labels like `service_name`, then view connections in Service Center.
- **Route and filter:** Direct alerts to the correct escalation chain or filter views in incidents and alert groups.

### How labels connect your operations

Labels support every stage of the your operational process. Alerts fire and carry assigned labels that route them to the right team. IRM uses those labels to categorize alert groups and incidents. SLOs reference the same labels to track reliability. Service Center uses labels to map everything back to defined services, giving you a unified view of service health and dependencies.

The following table describes how each area uses labels:

Expand table

| Area               | How labels are used                                                                                                               |
|--------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| **Alerting**       | Labels on alert rules classify and route alerts. Notification policies use labels to group alerts and determine routing.          |
| **IRM**            | Labels configured on integrations categorize and route alert groups. Labels also apply to incidents for tracking and correlation. |
| **SLOs**           | Labels on SLO definitions carry over to generated alert rules, connecting SLOs with alerts and incidents.                         |
| **Service Center** | The `service_name` label maps teams, alerts, and incidents to defined services, providing a unified health view.                  |

For details on how labels work in each area, refer to:

- [Labels in Grafana IRM](/docs/grafana-cloud/alerting-and-irm/irm/configure/labels/)
- [Labels in Grafana Alerting](/docs/grafana-cloud/alerting-and-irm/alerting/fundamentals/alert-rules/annotation-label/)
- [Labels in Grafana SLO](/docs/grafana-cloud/alerting-and-irm/slo/create/)
- [Labels in Service Center](/docs/grafana-cloud/alerting-and-irm/service-center/)

### System labels

Labels with certain keys, such as `service_name` and `team_name`, are system labels. Grafana Cloud relies on these keys for core functionality like service mapping and team routing.

You can create system labels and add new values to them like any other label. However, once a system label exists, it can’t be archived. In Label management, these labels display the message: “This label is managed by Grafana and can’t be removed.”

### Label format requirements

Label keys and values must meet the following format requirements:

- **Length:** 1–63 characters for both keys and values.
- **Start and end characters:** Can’t start or end with a number.
- **Allowed characters:** Letters, numbers, and underscores only. Spaces, dashes, and punctuation aren’t allowed.
- **Maximum labels per alert group:** 50. If more than 50 labels are assigned, only the first 50 (sorted alphabetically) are applied.

## Access label management

To open Label management:

1. In the Grafana sidebar, click **Alerts and IRM**.
2. Select **Label management**.

The Label management page lists all labels, including their key, value, description, and color. System labels are indicated with a message that they’re managed by Grafana.

## Add a label

You can create labels to match your organization’s needs.

1. In Label management, click **+ Add Label**.
2. Enter a **Name** for the label key.
3. Enter a **Value** for the label.
4. (Optional) Add a **Description** to help your team apply the label consistently.
5. (Optional) Select a **Color** to visually distinguish the label.
6. Click **Add**.

The new label is available across your alerting and incident operations.

## Edit a label

You can update labels to reflect changes in your organization.

> Note
> 
> You can’t archive system labels. For more information, refer to [System labels](#system-labels).

1. In Label management, find the label you want to edit.
2. Click the **pencil** icon.
3. Update the **Name**, **Value**, **Description**, or **Color** as needed.
4. Click **Update**.

## Archive a label

You can archive labels that are no longer needed. Archiving removes the label from the active list but doesn’t remove existing label assignments from resources. Previously labeled resources retain their labels for historical accuracy.

1. In Label management, find the label you want to archive.
2. Click the **archive** icon.
3. Confirm the action.

To archive multiple labels at once, select the labels using the checkboxes and click **Archive labels**.

## View archived labels

To view previously archived labels, enable the **View archived** toggle at the top of the Label management page. Archived labels appear in the list alongside active labels.

## Search labels

Use the search bar at the top of the Label management page to find labels by name or value. The list filters as you type.

## Best practices

- **Plan your taxonomy first:** Agree on label keys and allowed values with your team before creating labels. A consistent taxonomy makes filtering and correlation more reliable across alerting, IRM, and SLOs.
- **Use consistent naming:** Use descriptive, lowercase key names with underscores (for example, `service_name`, `team_name`, `environment`).
- **Avoid overly generic labels:** Use key-value pairs that provide meaningful context, such as `service_name:checkout` instead of just `checkout`.
- **Use shared labels:** Apply the same labels across alerting, IRM, and SLOs to correlate related resources and simplify filtering.

## Next steps

- [Labels in Grafana IRM](/docs/grafana-cloud/alerting-and-irm/irm/configure/labels/)
- [Labels in Grafana Alerting](/docs/grafana-cloud/alerting-and-irm/alerting/fundamentals/alert-rules/annotation-label/)
- [Labels in Grafana SLO](/docs/grafana-cloud/alerting-and-irm/slo/create/)